Soul Eater: EVOLUTION LUX
by TEKNAM
Summary: ONE-SHOT. A/U. After failing to dispose of Alcapone and being captured by him, Maka and Soul spend five days in HELL. However, when the cavalry comes to save them, they become more than Meister and Weapon... MUCH MORE. Powerful OOC Maka/Soul. YOU ARE WARNED.


[A/N]Back again with another one-shot, this time set in the "Soul Eater" world. I know I don't usually do this, but I pose a serious question here: What if the power of love ACTUALLY had the power to evolve you to greater heights? Well, with a bit of help from their friends and Shinigami-sama's on-call rescue group, Maka Albarn and Soul "Eater" Evans are about to find out. ^_^ Hope you enjoy! _**WARNING!**_ In addition to dark material and foul language, there will be a building amount of OOC-ness in several of the characters, as well as a special guest appearance by a special muscle-head.. THOU HAST BEEN WARNED.[A/N]

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SOUL EATER: EVOLUTION LUX!  
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_**~SOMEWHERE IN THE WORLD~**_

_A short, portly man in a sharp, double-breasted suit and fedora stepped up to a door guarded by two guards._

"_Boss," the guards said, one depressing the handle to let the shorter man into the room they were guarding as they stepped aside. The shorter man smiled lecherously as the door swung open, revealing the contents of the room._

_Chained to a wall at the far end of the room, stripped to nothing but undergarments, was a young girl no older in appearance than twelve. A slight blush was spread across her face, and her blonde hair, tied on the sides in pigtails, was matted to her forehead with sweat. She stared at the figure in the door, her green eyes flaring with anger and rage. Despite her best attempts at intimidation, however, her body language betrayed her; she seemed distressed, and was shaking all over._

_The portly man walked over and stopped about a foot away from the girl._

"_Hello, Ms. Assassin, I trust you are having a good time today? How's that special drug we cooked up working for you?" he asked, soon after receiving a powerful kick to his face. He stumbled a couple steps backward, and then glared at his prisoner, who had an insane smile on her face._

"_I don't care what you throw at me, Alcapone, I'll beat it… AND TAKE YOUR SOUL!" the girl shouted loudly, struggling to break free of her chains despite her body's intense shaking. After several seconds, her struggling diminished, her breathing became labored, and her skin paled, save for the hot red flush that spread over her face. Her proud green eyes stared out, the color slowly dulling out. Soft, strangled moans began coming out of her mouth, and seconds later, she whimpered helplessly as a burst of liquid shot through her underwear, soaking them and the floor below._

"_Excellent," Capone said, gently massaging the fresh red footprint on his face, "it seems our special "Love Drug" is finally kicking into full effect. I knew it was a good idea to give you staggered doses so your little body would become accustomed to it!" He cackled as he turned to go through the door. The girl resumed her struggling after coming back to her senses, but another blast of fluid left her body, forming a puddle on the floor not two second before Capone had reached the door._

"_I'd like to stay and chat a bit longer, but we have another captive to begin work on. She's a friend of yours from Shibusen, as it were. She's coming along quite nicely, as it turns out," Capone said wickedly, "And besides, it'll be a lot more fun to see just how long you can keep up that attitude of yours. I've already told you twice in the past two days; the more you move, the stronger the effects of the drug becomes. So keeping still is your best bet… but that also comes with a price, as that's my men's signal to begin breaking you… OH, HOW I LOVE LEAVING PRETTY GIRLS WITH SUCH TOUGH DECISIONS!" Capone cackled loudly as he casually strolled out of the room, leaving the girl to struggle against her bonds again._

_**~DEATH CITY, SHIBUSEN ACADEMY~**_

"**This is not good, not good at all! We need to send in a squad to rescue our friends right away,"** a tall figure in a long, shifting black robe said. A single man stood beside him, his anger rising at the apparent lack of care or concern the figure before him had.

This man, red hair flaring, long scythe blades protruding from random portions of his body, was known to his co-workers as Spirit, and was what one in Shibusen would call a… DEATH SCYTHE.

In this world, evil runs amok; murderers and thieves striking form the shadows when they feel fit. To combat this, a lone being erected a foundation for a school to teach youngsters the values of friendship, teamwork… and, more importantly, "HOW TO ERADICATE EVIL. This place is known as Shibusen, and is run by a single being, Shinigami, the God of Death.

At this school, the students come in two varieties: Weapons, people who have demon blood coursing through their veins that allows the access to weapon forms, and Meisters, normal humans with strong souls who can wield the weapons. Students are made to pair up in teams of one Meister and one weapon. From there, training is dealt with by multiple teachers, all of whom are like the students.

However, as part of their tuition, the Meisters are given the task of collecting the souls of ninety-nine wicked beings and the soul of ONE witch; once these requirements are met, the Meister's weapon will evolve into a "Death Scythe", title bestowed only upon those who the Shinigami himself is capable of using. It was for this reason that a small group of students within the academy took it upon themselves, through an act of rivalry and friendship, to see which Meister and weapon could become Death Scythe and Meister first.

The other students had started a betting pool for this, and the teachers had eventually chipped in as well. The most likely to win, though his participation was, in a way, cheating, was the son of the Shinigami himself, Death the Kid, a perfectionist with an overly-super-OCD complex that revolved around "Perfect Symmetry", and his two Demon Guns, Liz and Patti Thompson, a pair of street-wise rough-and-tumble sisters.

Next on the list was Black Star, a loud-mouthed, self-proclaimed big-shot who claimed he'd ascend beyond the gods. With training as an assassin, he would have been the number-one to win, but due to his apparent need to grandstand and scream whenever he arrived on the scene of a battle, he and his multi-form Demon Shadow Tool, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa, had been deemed the "Eternal Underdogs".

However, it was inevitably the third team who had won, beating the odds stacked against them by the likes of Kid and Black Star. Maka Albarn, the daughter of Shinigami-sama's current Death Scythe, Spirit, had defied all odds with her trusty Demon Scythe, Soul "Eater" Evans, and had finally managed to obtain the required souls, transforming Soul's weapon into a newer, more deadly form. Maka had gone on for days how Kid's asymmetriphobia and Black Star's grandstanding that had caused them to lose – Kid had spent close to two weeks in his home, attempting to make his bedroom not only clean, but "Symmetrically Clean", much to the chagrin of Liz and Patti, while Kid had jumped into the same fights repeatedly, shouting his name and his profession… AS USUAL -, which royally annoyed both the other Meisters.

However, as Black Star had failed repeatedly – a total of one-hundred-and-ninety-eight times - to kill the mob boss Alcapone and his cronies, during a lull in activities at Shibusen, Shinigami had granted the mission to Maka and Soul. It had only been five days, but Maka and Soul usually completed their missions within a day, not counting travelling time. It had only taken them half-a-day to reach their destination and report in… and from then on, communications had been completely lost. Kid at first had said nothing, thinking there had been more than the duo had thought and that they'd be done soon. Black Star had reasoned – for once – that maybe things hadn't gone so well.

It was only after the third day, however, that many of the other Meisters began to worry, voicing their concerns to their teachers and, in the case of Black Star and Kid, to Shinigami himself. On that third day, Tsubaki had set off after Black Star fell asleep to try and rescue Maka and Soul alone, but had managed to do little more than awaken Black Star with a mental message that she'd been captured by the enemy. Black Star had brought this information to Shinigami, but had gotten little in response, save for a simple "thank you" and a dismissing wave of the hand. Black Star has stormed off, mumbling something about becoming better than Shinigami, which had made Shinigami laugh.

Now it was day five, and Spirit was standing off to the side behind his boss, watching through a Mirror of Omniscience as Maka struggled against chains while a pleasure-inducing drug surged through her body. As a Death Scythe, he was disappointed that his daughter had failed, but held hope of her escape. As her father, however, he was distraught.

He forced himself to keep in mind that fact that his ex-wife and daughter hated him completely was his own fault. Had he not become obsessed with the girls at a certain cabaret club, he'd have been there to support his wife and child as he should have… but for some men, the urge was too great to keep down. And so, his own weakness was what tore his family apart. He may now be Maka's legal guardian, but in betraying her trust as he'd done, he'd also lost his daughter. Gone now were the days where he'd picked her up and spun her around in his arms, or held her close while she cried about boys picking on her in school. Gone were the days where "dancing" meant sitting her on his arm and holding her hands with his own, slowly turning circles in place.

GONE.

That was the thing that hit him the hardest: ALL OF THE INNOCENCE WAS GONE. No one, not even Soul, had witnessed the gradual change that took place in Maka's psyche, but living with her as she grew had given Spirit that ungodly opportunity… and he regretted what he'd done to his own daughter every day of his life.

No but he knew of what lay beneath Maka's innocent-looking, yet courageous green eyes and those two little blonde pigtails… and Spirit had the overwhelming sense that if anyone else DID find out… the universe might be well and sorely DOOMED.

However, what was most vexing to him was his role as a subordinate. He was forced to sit here and watch what was being done to his poor, defenseless daughter while his boss sort of hovered before him, making slightly sarcastic, yet obvious comments that were, more than anything else, jabs at Spirit's own failures. This was AT LEAST the seventeenth time Shinigami had said that a team should be sent… and now, as two muscular men walked into the room and proceeded to knock Maka unconscious so they could inject her with another dose of the drug, Spirit could feel Shinigami about to utter that accursed phrase once again… and Spirit wasn't going to take it anymore.

"**This is not good, not good at all! We need to send in a squad to-"** Shinigami started, before feeling a long, curved blade of cold steel level itself against his neck.

"JUST HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP SAYING THAT? THAT'S MY GOD-DAMNED DAUGHTER YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW!" Spirit shouted, visibly snapping from the pressure of the situation.

"Alright, yes, I get it. If I hadn't cheated on my wife at that cabaret club, none of this would have happened. Maka wouldn't hate me so much, we'd still be a family, and Soul-kun and I would probably be getting along much better. I ROYALLY FUCKED UP. I UNDERSTAND THAT! SO HOW DAMN LONG ARE YOU GOING TO DRAG THIS OUT BEFORE YOU STEP OFF THAT HIGH-HORSE OF YOURS AND ACTUALY** SEND A FUCKING TEAM TO GET MY DAUGHTER BACK?"** Spiritshouted, collapsing to his knees in frustration. He felt strength rushing from his body and soon collapsed to all fours, face smashed into the ground as he bawled his eyes out, screaming apologies to his daughter and swearing he'd be there for her soon. Shinigami turned around to face Spirit.

"**Actually, I was waiting to see how long it would take for you to be serious about this, Spirit-kun,"** Shinigami said, **"Ever since the third day, you've seemed to be treating this whole thing as if it were all an act, as if you didn't really believe Maka-chan was in any real danger. I was hoping this experience would smarten you up a little. Apparently, it worked a little TOO well."** At this, Spirit felt strength returning, along with a righteous fury. He leapt to his feet and grabbed Shinigami by the shoulders and shook him furiously.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN YOU WERE TRYING TO MAKE ME SMARTEN UP? THIS WAS ALL JUST A GAME TO YOU?" Spirit shouted, staring into the dark voids of his boss's skeletal eyes. Shinigami stared into Spirit's eyes for a good thirty seconds, watching as multiple endless streams of tears raced down the man's face, soaking into his black blazer and olive shirt. It was then, at first glance that Shinigami saw what he was looking for:

DESPAIR. REGRET. RAGE. DESPREATION.

He also saw, through all of this, that Spirit had been holding these feelings in… SINCE THE FIRST DAY.

With little more than a tap of Spirit's shoulders with his own large hands, Shinigami turned again to face the mirror.

"**Spirit-kun, summon SPARTOI. Shibusen is going to war with the Capone group. No matter the costs, we're taking back our friends!"** Shinigami said with a voice full of authority and power. Spirit nodded vigorously and got up to leave.

"**Oh, and make sure you summon Stein-kun as well. We will need his abilities for this,"** Shinigami said. Spirit nodded and Set to turn around when Shinigami stopped him once more.

"**WAIT!"** he shouted, forming a comically brick-like hand to reach into his cloaked body. He removed from himself a small mask shaped like his face and tossed it to Spirit.

"**I don't think I'll be having need of this anytime soon… take it with you, OK?"** Shinigami said. Spirit, upon catching the mask, pocketed it and nodded again, this time turning quickly. A second later hetook off running.

_**~SEVERAL MINUTES LATER~**_

Shinigami nodded.

Before him stood Shibusen's premiere fighting force, SPARTOI, as well as several of the school's most powerful teachers. At the foot of the group was Spirit; behind him was Black Star.

"**Alright, everyone, the situation is most dire,"** Shinigami started, **"Meister Maka Albarn has been captured by mob boss Alcapone, and Death Scythe Soul Eater has been taken from her. Without their bond, they are powerless. In addition to this, out of concern and frustration, Shadow Tool Tsubaki Nakatsukasa attempted a lone rescue operation, but was also captured. Both Maka-san and Tsubaki-san have been locked in cells in compromising positions; Alcapone means to break their spirits and turn them into slaves."**

"NO! TSUBAKI, I'LL SAVE YOU!" Black Star shouted loudly, turning on his heel to go in search of his captured friend; unfortunately, he was stopped when a tall man in a white lab coat grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him back, lightly tossing him to the floor.

The man looked Black Star in the eyes, his stitch-covered face framed by silver-gray hair and reflective glasses.

"As Shinigami-sama JUST said, your partner attempted to rescue Maka-chan and Soul-kun ALONE and failed. Are you DEAF as well as STUPID?" the man said, a slightly sadistic smile forming on his lips. Black Star backed up a touch and returned to his previous spot, shivering.

"**Thank you, Stein-kun, for that wonderfully QUICK save,"** Shinigami said, **"SO, back to business. It seems Alcapone's not the only one who's been eating innocent souls; he's been having his men do the same. The levels of power differ greatly from one to the next, but of them all, Alcapone's the one you should worry about most. His soul is MASSIVE at this current time, and being as big as it is gives him a lot more power than he'd normally have. The fact that he also has two of our Weapon friends and one of our top Meisters is also something he'll try to use against us. As such, due to this mission's extremely high danger level, I've called upon two people who will be invaluable to this mission. ENTER!"**

A loud crashing noise drew everyone's attention to the room's entrance, in which stood two figures, one standing straight up, the other bent down at the waist with a fist out.

"_**Brother… are we going to have fun, do you think?"**_ the hunched figure asked, standing up.

"**I am not entirely certain, but it is quite possible, brother. For now, we must inquire as to our manner of work and the associates we will be taking along,"** the other said. The two figures soon vanished; only reappear moments later between the group and Shinigami.

"**Everyone, I'd like you to meet Shibusen's Two-man Blacks Ops Cell, codename "Shiken*","** Shinigami said, **"On my left, the older brother Ichirou,"** at this point, Shinigami lifted a hand toward the man on his left, who had a full head of shoulder-length crimson bed-head and grey-blue eyes in a simple black-and-white suit,** "on the right, the younger, Mugetsu,"** This time, he waved a hand to the man on his right, who had a head of buzz-cut silver-blue hair and burning red eyes in a similar suit as his brother,** "They are twins born with the same blood: the blood of the Demon Katana. For that reason, they're known solely outside of work as the "Blade Brothers". Introduce yourselves, boys."** The one on the left of Shinigami stepped up, revealing a slightly crazed look in his eyes that vanished in seconds. When he addressed the group, his face now bore a serious look.

"Yo, Whazzap?" the man said in a deep, coarse voice while he lifted one hand to make a "peace" sign, "Name's Ichirou. If you have a problem with that, you can address it to your body bag! HA HA!" Most of the group staggered at this. However, they regained themselves when the other brother stepped forward.

"Greetings; my name is Mugetsu," the second brother said, his voice clear and deep, yet somehow feminine, "I deeply apologize for my brother's rash behavior… He hasn't been able to work off his anger in a few weeks, so he has been more than a fair bit hyper recently. However, we are both ready and willing to aide in this mission. What exactly are we up against, Shinigami-sama?" Shinigami nodded, turning around and waving his large, brick-like hands toward his Mirror of Omniscience, bringing up three images: One of Maka, one of a tall woman with a sizable bust and a long ponytail, and the last of a small, glowing blue sphere with spiky protrusions off one side, with small eyes turned back in sadness. The two girls were in nothing but panties.

Spirit watched the reactions of the two men. Mugetsu stared at the images. Spirit could see by the outlines of his face that Mugetsu was getting angry and offended, but was holding it back. On the other hand, his brother Ichirou was JUST the back-end of losing his mind. Spirit could see Ichirou's face twisting further and further into absolute rage, until finally…

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?" Ichirou shouted, "WHAT DOES THIS ASSHOLE ACLAPONE THINK HE'S DOING? I DON'T CARE HOW YOUNG THOSE TWO GIRLS ARE, BECAUSE THAT'S JUST WRONG NO MATTER WHAT AGE THEY ARE! I'M GOING TO RIP HIS GUTS OUT AND FEED THEM TO THE WALLS AND FLOOR!" Mugetsu reached over and patted his brother on the shoulder to calm him down.

"Don't you worry, brother… YOU'LL GET YOUR CHANCE," the near-hairless man said, his face soon hidden by a dark shroud. Without another word, both men looked to Shinigami.

"**Your job is to set up a maximum of three assault teams from the people I've gathered in this room. Your mission is split in two parts: Your first objective is to find each of the three captives you see here. Their names are Maka Albarn, Soul Evans, and Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. Your first objective is to find and remove them from the compound. Soul-kun is most likely going to be located somewhere close to Alcapone himself, as it appears he plans to ingest him as the last push that will break Maka-chan's mind.**

**Your second objective is to aide them in their mission by bringing down the complex. Take down as many of the minor units as you can, and make the entire place come down on top of them all, Alcapone included. Leave NO survivors. SHOW. NO. MERCY. Understood?"** Shinigami said. Ichirou and Mugetsu nodded, then turned and led the group out of the room. As the door closed, no one heard Shinigami as he said:

"**Bring them back alive…"**

_**~SEVERAL MINUTES LATER~**_

In the teacher's lounge, now labeled the War Room, Ichirou and Mugetsu had rallied the teachers and students participating in the mission to discuss formations.

Announcing that he was no good at all the tactical stuff, Ichirou had stepped aside to allow Mugetsu full reign of the planning.

"Alright," Mugetsu said, giving a serious look to everyone present, "Here's how this will play out. I want to know who's closest to the prisoners right now. After I know that, I'll be able to figure out who's going where and if we'll need an extra bit of help from a special… outside source." At that, Kid, Black Star, the Thompson sisters, Stein and Spirit stepped forward. Everyone else present took a step back.

"Alright, state your relationship with the captives," Mugetsu said.

Black Star said, "Fellow Meister, friend of two of them… and partner of another."

Kid said, "Fellow Meister and friend."

The Thompsons said, "Fellow Weapon to two of them… friend to all three."

Stein smirked wickedly and said, "Teacher, trainer… and DISSECTER OF ALL THREE." At this, the taller man got multiple horrified gasps and evil looks. The worst one by far, he felt, came from Spirit, who wasn't shooting daggers, but near-literal lightning bolts. Stein absent-mindedly reached for the large bolt stuck through his head and gave it a few twists before he felt the sensation of having a laser beam burning through his back. He immediately whipped around with a soft smirk on his face.

"Hey, come on, Spirit-kun! It was just a joke!" Stein said half-heartedly. No one was surprised when Stein went flying through the wall after a powerful haymaker made contact with the side of his head, and they certainly weren't surprised when Spirit walked out of the room after his old Meister and friend. Everyone closed their eyes and winced at the multiple smashing sounds and screams from out in the hall, but only Ichirou and Mugetsu were caught off-guard by Spirit's only shout of outrage:

"**YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE MAKING JOKES RIGHT NOW, YOU SADISTIC FUCK!"** Spirit shouted, the tone of his voice screaming of intended murder while the volume alone was enough to shatter glass, **"THIS IS MY GOD-DAMNED DAUGHTER YOU'RE MAKING LIGHT HUMOUR ABOUT! MY LITTLE GIRL AND ONLY DAUGHTER, WHO RIGHT NOW COULD BE LESS THAN A SECOND AWAY FROM DEATH, OR WORSE! HOW THE FUCK DARE YOU CRACK WISE IN MY HOUR OF CRISIS AND HER MOMENT OF LIFE OR DEATH, YOU PSYCHOTIC SON OF A BITCH!" **With one last blow, Spirit stormed back into the room, casually flicking blood and pieces of bone and tooth from his knuckles of his right hand, while idly dragging a much-worse-for-wear Stein back into the room by his collar, which was held firmly in Spirit's left hand. Spirit lifted and threw Stein into one of the empty couches, where the previously pummeled man landed and slumped as if his spine was rubber.

Everyone waited until Stein had given a cry of "That's not supposed to bend like that…" before ignoring him and getting back to planning.

"Now that I know all that," Mugetsu said calmly, "Here is how we will run this show. Sid-san, Nygus san," here Mugetsu addressed a muscular zombie-man with green skin and pure-white visible teeth and a heavily bandaged woman with dark skin, "You two will be in charge of "Delta Squad". Your job is to take a few of the students present and lead a distraction team in at first signal to draw attention away from Alpha and Beta Squads. Your jobs will also include planting these around the compound." With that, Mugetsu pulled out several large zip-closed bags of miniature explosives. Immediately, Nygus' eyes widened.

"A-Are those…?" She asked. Mugetsu nodded, but it was Ichirou who spoke next.

"Damn straight, missy," Ichirou said, his gravelly voice suddenly smoothing over in appreciation of the small devices, "They're the new explosive charges from the Death Scythe Corps out in Australia, where we were called form. The XXS 310-50 Dynamo micro-explosive charge, the most powerful anti-detection charges used by the UN Military to combat their enemies in war-torn areas. They come in Planting and Throwing forms, with the latter being the former attached to a bio-degradable plastic stake. The MOST DANGEROUS explosives known to man and weapon alike, capable of leveling an area equal to fifteen city blocks with JUST one charge. With the force of two or three bags of these things placed throughout a large-enough area, the explosion could pack enough concussive force to not only knock the building to the ground before the explosion, but literally immolate the surrounding area for a period of thirty minutes before the blast subsides and the flames die on their own. The ultimate explosives… and only Mu-kun and I know how to make them." At this, Mugetsu pushed his brother aside.

"IF WE CAN GET BACK TO PLANNING, PLEASE…" He said, his voice suddenly taking on an ominously monotonous sound, "THANK YOU. As I was saying, Sid-san and Nygus-san will lead the diversionary demolition team, Delta Squad. Ichirou-kun will lead Beta Squad, which will be an outright attack force in charge of locating Soul-san and bringing him to the location of Maka-san and Tsubaki-san. Anyone who thinks they're more about wreaking havoc and chaos is welcome to join his side before Delta Squad is formed."

"As for me, I will be leading Alpha Squad on the hunt for the above two hostages. However, as Alpha Squad has two targets to find, who will no doubt be held in different rooms, I will divide Alpha Squad into two subgroups as soon as infiltration is completed: Team Shadow will be in charge of hunting down Tsubaki-san."

At this, Black Star stepped up and said, "Mugetsu-san, if it's alright with you, I'd like to lead that team. I want to be the one who finds Tsubaki first. After all the crap she's put up with by being my partner… If she makes it out of this, I…" Black Star broke down at that point, pounding his fists into the ground. Mugetsu nodded.

"Request granted, Star-san. You get first pick of the people who know her best. Take your pick now, please," Mugetsu said. Black Star jumped to his feet and nodded in thanks, then turned to look at the people in the line-up.

"I want Kid-kun and the sisters. I won't be able to do much on my own, so if I can have at least ONE person who can cover me, that'd be perfect," Black Star said. Kid nodded, as did the sisters, and stepped up.

"I'd be honored to undertake this mission with you, Black Star. Now let's go and get prepared for battle!" Kid said, rushing out of the room with the Thompson sisters and Black Star in tow. Mugetsu turned back to Spirit.

"The roster said they were bitter rivals… Apparently not…" Mugetsu said. Spirit looked up with a bit of a grin on his face.

"They are, in a sense. They normally can't stand one another, but there have been instances where I've seen them putting aside their differences for the betterment of themselves or each other… sometimes even just to have fun. They know when to smarten up and act mature. That's just part of who they are," Spirit said. He looked over at Stein, who visibly flinched when he saw Spirit's eyes on him.

"ISN'T THAT RIGHT, STEIN-KUN?" Spirit shouted in a booming voice. Stein screamed in fear and dove behind his couch.

Mugetsu gave Spirit an odd look and said, "You do realize you're going to be working with him, right? He needs to be in at LEAST decent condition. At this rate, he won't be of much use to us."

"Don't underestimate him," Spirit said, spite in his voice, "That bastard can come back from just about anything excluding having his head lopped off. Hell, he's been experimenting on HIMSELF for years. He's resilient. Plus, this is actually only the third time in the years he's known me that he's seen me snap. Of course, the other two times I didn't have to beat the living tar out of him, but… this case, my nerves are shot, and I haven't got much left in the form of mental stability. I'm desperate here." Mugetsu watched as Spirit slowly started sobbing and nodded.

"I guess it's a good thing you're with me then. If you were on Ichirou's team he'd have been working that last bit of stability right out of you," Mugetsu said musingly, "I know from experience. That's why we developed our style of combat… But that's a different story. You and Stein-kun will be with me. With that said, Sid-san, I will be fine with just these two; you can have the other students for Delta Squad." Sid nodded and motioned for the other students to follow him. Soon, the room was down to JUST Mugetsu, Ichirou, Spirit and Stein.

"Is there any specific way we're going to perform this operation, aside from what we have planned? Or is it just a simple "Break in, kill everything in sight, save them" thing?" Spirit asked. Stein, now crawling form behind his couch, gained a serious expression on his face.

"I'd like to know that also. If we're splitting into two groups upon infiltration, then it would stand to reason that each one would already know the locations of each prisoner instead of just running around like chickens with nuclear bombs strapped to their chests?" Stein asked.

Mugetsu nodded and said, "Interesting that you'd bring that up, Stein-san. As it happens, Shinigami-sama had Ichirou and myself stationed in that compound as spies to gather Intel. We managed to get in and out without being detected, so we know the EXACT locations of each prisoner. Because the three are split into separate locations, it's best to have the groups in charge of rescue duty split and meet in a common location to deal with any damage done to the captives. In this case," Mugetsu pulled from his back pocket a small electronic device that, once activated, exploded to show a massive three-dimensional diagram of the compound's layout, "Maka-san is over here, in Cell Block A", Mugetsu pointed to a small, pink dot with what appeared to be two pig-tails coming from its sides, "Tsubaki-san is in Cell-Block D," Mugetsu pointed several inches in the opposite direction, where a pink dot with a long ponytail was, "And Soul-san is here, in Alcapone's Private suite," Mugetsu pointed to a spot with two dots, one light blue with spikes off one side of it and the other pitch black with the faint traces of a mustache.

"Beta Squad will be destined for the private suit, which means they'll inevitable have to take on Alcapone. He is, as Shinigami-sama stated, more powerful that he's ingested close to four-hundred souls, and should be able to hold off a small group of worthy foes for about… ten minutes, at the most. That is why Ichirou has on his person a single-shot tranquilizer gun loaded with a SINGLE round. That one round is laced with enough sedatives to keep a bull-elephant asleep for roughly three days. The others will do the majority of the work, but at the first opportunity, Ichirou is going to stick Alcapone with the thing and put him under. That way we can-"

At this, Mugetsu felt a buzzing sensation in his chest pocket and pulled out a phone. Nodding at the name of the caller, he opened the phone and started talking.

"Mugetsu… I see… HE WHAT? Alright, we are going to need you for this operation after all… How soon after mission commencement can you… You are already there? Wait, you would have to be… Alright then, we will meet you there in a matter of hours. Thank you for the information." With that, Mugetsu hung up, looking distressed.

"Our time frame has just shrunk by a considerable margin. Alcapone has just announced the time at which he'll break Maka's spirit: THREE HOURS FROM NOW," he said. With less than half-a-second's preparation, Stein, Ichirou and Mugetsu found themselves being pulled from the room by Spirit.

Within a few minutes, the four had prepared and met with the rest of the teams outside. Giving a quick nod, Ichirou and Mugetsu took off to the front of the group, leading them to the combat site.

_**~NOT MUCH LATER~**_

The group sat behind a large, stone outcrop fifty yards away from the destination. Mugetsu nodded to Sid, who nodded back and turned away with Nygus to move out, taking along with them the only students who had wanted to go: Ox Ford and his partner, the Demon Lightning Spear Harvar D Éclair, a pair of extremely logical minds; The bespectacled Kirikou Rung and his partners, the silent identical twins Pot of Fire and Pot of Thunder; the young Witch Kim Deihl and her partner, the Demon Lantern, Jacquline O Lantern Dupre, also known as Jacky. In all, the seven seemed to get along quite well. Deeper down, though, Mugetsu could tell there were serious problems.

Ox and Harvar were extremely studious, and to have been placed on the SPARTOI unit with the others was a testament to their fighting abilities; however, unlike OX, who was able to show emotions, Harvar was more of a robot, showing no emotions whatsoever and was brutal to the point of KILLING in front of his friends and allies, which clearly scared some of them. Kirikou was a tough guy, and resembled Black Star in personality, save for the fact that he was more laid-back than Black Star, not nearly as overt. Meanwhile, his partners, the Demon Pots, were childish not only in appearance, but in mindset also, often playing or squabbling. They did, however, have occasional moments of usefulness, which Kirikou would quickly praise them for.

The two that really worried Mugetsu, however, was Kim, the ONLY Witch in the group. How no one else seemed bothered by her presence was startling to Mugetsu, who had lived most of his life under the belief that Witches were evil and shouldn't be tolerated, let alone treated like anyone else. From what he'd gathered, the young Witch was that she was a natural with healing magic, and that her partner, Jacky, was a pyro-type Weapon that could also be used for flight by transforming into a broom-like object. After a quick demonstration of their teamwork, however, Mugetsu was hard-pressed to find a reason why Kim and Jacky shouldn't be allowed to join.

As soon as Sid's team had departed, Mugetsu pulled the rest of the groups close.

"You remember your jobs?" he asked. A short series of nods made him smirk.

"Good. Now to wait for the signal…" Mugetsu said.

Suddenly, a burst of flame erupted over their heads and Mugetsu nodded.

"Let's get to work!" he said, leading the two groups toward the compound from the back entrance. The resistance at the rear entrance was very minimal, and with a single chop to the lone guard's neck with his hand, Mugetsu manage to get everyone in with no hassle. From there, Ichirou's team split off to go find Soul while Mugetsu continued to lead his smaller group towards Maka and Tsubaki. Mugetsu's team was met with little resistance; there a few minor minions along the way, but they barely even got to scream for help before Mugetsu took them down.

**~ELSEWHERE~**

"ORAH, SEI!" Ichirou shouted, swinging his arm into throngs of foes at once. The students following behind him could do little to help him except take out anyone that came from behind, but in the sparse moments they got to see their leader's face, they almost wanted to run and hide.

With every swing of his now transformed and bladed arms, Ichirou's face became more and more feral, hints of an almost primal fury beginning to seep in as his once calm blue-grey eyes continued to gain a more burning shade of red tinge with the passing seconds. It was almost as if his mind craved destruction and bloodshed… almost as if he needed it to survive.

'_Now that I think of it,'_ Ox thought to himself, _'That fellow Mugetsu-san did mention that Ichirou-san hadn't vented his frustrations recently… maybe this was what they meant… But to think that this is what happens when he holds it in!'_ Ox whipped around as a single shout of "HALT!" hit his ears, only to watch as his partner Harvar lunged forward, transforming his left arm and impaling the attacking warrior in the head, . The thug slipped off of Harvar's zigzagged, spear-like hand. Harvar simply glanced the other way, flicking his hand to dispel the blood on it. Ox nodded to Harvar and turned around, son wishing he hadn't.

He had caught another glimpse of Ichirou, and this one REALLY scared him: the man's eyes were almost entirely black with small red dots were his pupils should have been, his teeth were becoming more like the fangs of a wild beast, and his sword-arms were now wickedly curved and serrated, with large, hook-like notches on the tops. Ox staggered back a step, bumping into Kirikou, who whipped around.

"What's wrong, Ox?" he asked. Ox shook his head and went to find Harvar, who was immediately behind him… basically, whatever it was that had frightened Ox was making him wander aimlessly in the dark, dank and bleak halls of the building. Kirikou simply shook his head and grabbed the back of Ox's shirt collar, walking towards Kim and Jackie while pulling the now witless super-genius behind him, Harvar strolling along behind while trying fruitlessly to snap his partner out of his stupor. As the last thug fell to Ichirou's bladed arms, the man's countenance seemed to cool, his face returning to what it had been before, although now with a slight scowl on his face. His arm blades returned to their straight, non-serrated edges, and soon returned to being arms. He turned to the students.

"You lot alright back there?" he asked, his voice cracking a bit as it returned to its normal, gravelly tone from its previous dark, malevolent one. Kirikou shook his head.

"Nope, nothing wrong here, sir," he said, nodding his head towards Ox, "Unless you count one of our number being mentally incapacitated for some odd reason." Ichirou nodded.

"He must have seen my worst face…" the man commented, before walking up to Ox and yelling, "YO BRAINIAC! WE'RE MOVING OUT, WHETHER YOU'RE UP TO JOINING IN OR NOT!" As if by magic, Ox snapped out of his haze and started flailing about.

"WHOAHWHAT'SGOINGON?" he said, seemingly unable to break free of Kirkou's hold on his collar… until the darker-skinned Pot Meister suddenly let go, chuckling a bit as his Spear Meister friend went crashing to the ground.

Ichirou watched this quietly and chuckled, "You two get along well. I'm actually VERY surprised. Not a whole lot of Meisters like the concept of working together back where Mu-kun and I are from, and even fewer have such amiable relationships with their partners. It's really very sad. As it is, only Meisters and partners who happen to be family have really great teamwork skills…" Ox looked up at the dark look on Ichirou's face.

"Ichirou-san," Ox asked, "What's on your mind? You seem like a big weight's on your shoulders." Ichirou simply shook his head.

"Nothing for you to worry your head about, Lightning Crown," Ichirou said, a small semblance of a smirk forming on his face. It was with that smirk that the group set off again, Ichirou taking the first steps toward their target as the others followed behind.

_**~ELSHWHERE~**_

Black Star stopped short of a small door. From what he'd seen of Mugetsu's map before infiltration, this was supposed to be Cell Block D's door. He took a deep breath and pushed open the door, revealing a long hallway with a row of cells up and down each side. There was a bend at the end of the hallway, from which several loud moans and gasps could be heard. Ahead were only two guards… and both were sleeping. Black Star motioned to Kid to stay put while he handled this. Kid nodded and stayed put, the Thompson sisters standing still behind him. Black Star walked up to the two guards and gently grabbed them by the backs of their heads, then, digging his fingers into their skulls, pulled his hands close together, forcing the two guards to smash their heads together, knocking them even further into unconscious bliss. He turned and motioned to Kid and the sisters, who immediately walked forward, being quiet not to alert any other guards.

"_Black__Star is being a lot better of an assassin this time around… He's keeping his grand-standing to a bare minimum,'_ Kid thought, _'Now if only he could keep this mindset AND his goal of besting the gods, he may one day become the world's greatest assassin!'_ Kid motioned for the sisters to ready up, and soon, in swirls of energy, the two girls had vanished, becoming no more than a pair of Desert Eagles in Kid's hands, held upside down with his pinky fingers on the triggers. Kid kept moving, catching up to and keeping close behind Black Star as they approached the bend. The closer they got, the louder the noises come from within became.

Soon they reached the bend and turned. This revealed the presence of only ONE cell, all the way at the end of a long, long hallway. The hallway was dimly lit, and the cell at the end, barely at all. However, the sounds were coming loud now, and they seemed to be coming from the end of the hall. Black Star motioned to Kid to stay put, which the Young Shinigami did. Kid watched as Black Star walked down the hall, keeping his senses trained for any disturbances.

However, Black Star noticed that the closer to the cell he got, the farther away the noises suddenly became. Nonetheless, he forged ahead, hoping to find something… or someone, soon. The sounds continued to quiet down, so Black Star stopped and focused, hoping to send a message back to Kid.

Kid was standing perfectly still when he heard Black Star's voice in his head, asking, _"Hey Kid, how close are those sounds to you? Can you still hear them clearly?"_ Kid closed his eyes and focused, sending his own message back.

"_Yeah, they're crystal clear from here… why?"_ Kid asked.

"_Because they're getting farther and farther away from me down here… I can barely hear them now. They must have a hidden cell somewhere near you… IT'S A TRAP!"_ Black Star shouted at the end, running back amidst a horde of masked thugs chasing him. Kid felt a drop of sweat form on his head.

"Did he SERIOUSLY just quote Star Wars?" Kid said, shaking his head as he leveled his guns out at angles to the walls. Squeezing the triggers, Kid fired several round of his own Soul Wavelength, compressed into bullets, which ricocheted off the walls and floor to continually land in the heads of the thugs chasing Black Star. Soon, Kid had eliminated all threats, and, for some odd reason, the noises from earlier had stopped entirely. Kid couldn't hear them anymore, no matter how well he trained his ears to pick them up.

"Damn… That cell may not be a trap after all, Black Star," Kid said, walking past his assassin friend toward the cell, guns raised to aim ahead at the cell doors. As he approached, Kid noticed a small, clear Plexiglas window that looked into the cell. Looking in, he blushed and staggered back a step.

"B- Black Star… I found her!" Kid called. Black Star immediately broke into a run, pushing Kid aside as he neared the door. Grabbing the handle, Black Star released a small burst of power and tore the door clear off its frame. He took a step in, looking around.

"TSUBAKI! TSUBAKI, I'M HERE TO SA- Oh gods… Tsubaki!" Black Star trailed, seeing the state his partner was in.

Tsubaki had been left chained to the wall, gagged, blindfolded, and was sweating all over. By the way she didn't seem to hear him, she was either lost in a dream world, under the effects of a drug… or she was wearing ear plugs as well.

Black Star walked over and tore the chains that held her to the wall by her wrists, catching her as she fell to the ground. He reached for the gag and tore it off, then reached for the blindfold. It was only at this range that he saw that she was actually wearing earplugs. HE reached to pull them out, then looked at her carefully; she seemed to be sleeping.

"Tsubaki…" Black Star said sadly, worried he'd lost his partner. He bowed his head so his forehead met hers and slowly set about straightening her hair, which he only now noticed was extremely disheveled.

From the door, Kid watched all of this and marveled at how Black Star seemed indifferent to Tsubaki being… naked.

'_Could it be… that he watches her every time she takes a shower?'_ Kid wondered Suddenly Liz's voice spoke from inside her gun form.

"_Hey Kid… He seems unfazed by her lack of clothing… do you think he peeks on her while she's bathing?"_ Liz asked. Kid shook his head.

"Not only do I think that's the case, Liz… but I think you must be telepathic. I was just thinking the same thing…" Kid admitted. He could feel Liz growing warmer than before, and couldn't tell if it was some kind of feminine anti-pervert rage… or embarrassment that they'd been thinking the same thing. By the way the warmth seemed to stabilize after a few seconds, he figured it was probably the latter; had it been the former, she would have kept getting hotter and hotter until he couldn't hold her anymore.

Black Star continued to quietly hold Tsubaki until he heard her voice gently whisper, 'I knew you'd come for me… Black Star…" His eyes shot open and he looked her right in the eyes. Her eyes were still the same shade of indigo, but seemed a little… distant, almost as if she were there, but not really.

"Tsubaki… how do you feel?" Black Star asked cautiously. She smiled, although it seemed to be more of a slightly pained smile than the ones he'd come to live for.

"I… I feel fine… They were supposed to come and inject me again soon… I should be alright soon, but … their drug is really-OH!" she cried, wrenching forward in his arms, sending sweat flying in all directions while she panted hard for breath. Kid recognized the effect immediately.

"Black Star, that's the Underworld Drug they were using on Maka-san! We have to Get Tsubaki-san and move NOW!" Kid called. Black Star nodded.

"Tsubaki, I need you to change into your Kusari-gama form, alright? I'll place you inside my pouch until we can meet up with the others!" Black Star said. Tsubaki nodded and soon vanished into a wisp of energy, creating a two-ended chain-scythe with a long chain. Black Star wrapped up the chain and placed them alongside the scythes inside his pouch. With that, Black Star turned back to Kid and said, "Let's go. We have to rendezvous with the others ASAP!"

Kid nodded and the two tore down the hall, encountering no problems at all.

_**~ELSWHERE~**_

Mugetsu had managed to single-handedly take down all the opposition that came their way, which wasn't saying much, considering all ten of the grunts they'd encountered had been no more than recent additions to the group that had no formal training of ANY kind. So far, Stein and Spirit had only seen what they could tell was a fraction of Mugetsu's full power.

The two watched as Mugetsu transfigured his hand into a small blade by flattening his hand, and then slide it through the air to launch a ranged attack that cut down a small group of enemies before they could see him. It was around that time that a loud boom was heard directly overhead.

"_**HEY! YOU CALL FOR ME, MU-SAN?"**_ A booming voice called, just before an explosion in the ceiling heralded the arrival of a new warrior. His landing on the floor kicked up a small storm of dust and debris, but it soon subsided. Stein and Spirit were shocked to see the man before them.

The man was extremely well built, standing a scant six-feet-some tall with rippling muscles all over his body. His head was covered in a thin cut of spiked blue hair with three scars ran from his left ear to JUST below his left eye, while his muscles were covered mostly in an orange sweat suit, the shirt of which had no sleeves, which showed off the black muscle shirt underneath. His feet were covered in black socks in white sneakers, and three small children with dark skin were perched on his person: a small girl, no older then roughly six years old sat atop his left shoulder, with a broad, innocent smile; a small boy about the same age as the girl, sat on his right shoulder, eyes set in a dark scowl; another small boy sat atop his head, roughly the same age as the two before, his eyes gazing around curiously.

"Tori-kun," the small girl asked, turning her eyes to look at the man's blue hair absently, "Are they the ones we're supposed to meet up with?"

"Who cares," the boy on the shoulder said, "As long as we can get in, get done, and get out so we can go eat, I'm happy."

"Where are we?" The boy on the man's head said, "I don't think we've ever been in this place before… have we, Tori-kun?"

"Settle down, you three," Tori said, a simple smile on his face, "We're right where we're supposed to be. Just keep calm, alright?"

Spirit looked each of the new arrivals over in turn. The tall man, muscular as he was, must have been the leader of the group, although with his cat-like yellow eyes curled up in a smile, Spirit kind of wondered why he wasn't in a day-care center somewhere instead of bringing three children into a danger zone. It was only when he carefully looked at each of the children that he realized what this man was: this man was an extreme adept at harmonizing his Soul Wavelength.

The young girl had vibrant pink hair with lime-green tips and blue streaks that ended just below her ears, her sapphire-blue eyes staring happily into the man's blue hair. For clothes, she wore a simple yellow sundress that went down to her ankles and sandals, with elbow-length white fingerless gloves on her arms. However, above her eyes, in place of eyebrows, were four round notches that looked like extended portions of bone.

The boy on the man's right shoulder had pitch-black hair with a large, spiral-like red swirl starting from the crown of his head and spreading around the rest of his hair, framing his blazing red eyes with two bangs that stopped and intersected at his chin. This boy wore a ripped-up black t-shirt with a dragon emblazoned on the front, as well as a black leather jacket over top and black jeans with matching black socks and shoes, and black fingerless gloves that went down to JUST below his wrists. However, his forearms were ringed with small, scalpel-like blades that jutted out from every conceivable angle, then retracted into his skin… and then shot back out again when the boy gripped his wrist and twisted to the left with a smirk.

The boy on the man's head was the most interesting. The boy's blonde hair had six concentric black rings starting from the top of his head and traveling downward to stop above his bangs, which had been tucked behind his ears and stretched to his shoulders. The boy's eyes were black where there should have been white, and his irises were replaced with a pair of odd, crimson spirals devoid of pupils. His clothes consisted of a white muscle shirt and white pants with red patches everywhere, while a simple pair of grey slippers rested on each foot. His hands were devoid of gloves, but the knuckles of each middle finger were punctuated by large, sharp, raised spikes of bone that had broken through his flesh. On his forehead, just above his black eyebrows, was the semblance of a small horn, also made of enlarged bone.

To Spirit's surprise, Mugetsu walked up t the man and stretched out a hand, saying, "Tori-kun! Thank you so much for keeping tabs on this place for me!" Tori simply smiled and took Mugetsu's and shook it vigorously.

"It was no trouble at all. Knife wanted a little workout, so we engaged a few of them before you got here. I was expecting them to be on higher alert than this, but hey, I guess not all mobsters can be of higher intellect, huh?" Tori said with a chuckle. Spirit stepped up and politely inquired as to their identities. Tori nodded and slapped his forehead gently, avoiding striking the boy upon it.

"RIGHT, RIGHT, where are my manners? How are ya," Tori said, "My name's Toriko B. Shokuya, leader of Shinigami-sama's guerilla combat squad "KING". With me are three of my four weapon partners. On my left shoulder is little Fiona Ortho Ranke Kenseth," Toriko nodded to the little girl on his shoulder who smiled and waved to the three ahead of her, "or "Fork" for short. On my right shoulder is Kevin Nox Ifrit Fulgor Efiskenth," now Toriko nodded to the scowling boy, who looked away with an audible "hmph", "or "Knife" for short. Finally, on my head is Spike Nailier," he now looked up toward the boy on his head who smiled and waved enthusiastically, "But we just call him Spike. The fourth is currently resting right now, so you'll have to wait for me to introduce him. He tends to get… IRRITABLE when he's made to wake up before he's ready."

"Feh," Knife said, his scowl turning into a wicked smirk, "Irritable is hardly the word. He turns god-damned MURDEROUS on ANYONE nearby if he's woken up before he's ready."

"Fine, fine, whatever," Spirit said, "Can we just get going? I want to find my daughter before things go horribly wrong!" He immediately stormed past the group. At that, Knife jumped down from Toriko's shoulder and followed Spirit.

"What do you mean, you want to find your daughter? What happened to her?" Knife asked. Spirit turned around, visibly irritated.

"Long story shirt, she was sent here to take down the gang, but got captured and if I DON'T GET TO HER SOON THEY'RE GOING TO TURN HER INTO A SEX SLAVE, AND YOU'RE** WASTING MY TIME WITH MEANINGLESSS, POINTLESS QUESTIONS!"** Spirit roared angrily, turning on his heel and transfiguring his right arm into a scythe blade.

"I'll only say this once," Spirit said, "I screwed up royally raising Maka. I know that, and I accept it. I will do ANYTHING to make amends for that. SO IF ANYONE HERE HAS ANY OTHER STUPID QUESTIONS TO ASK THAT WILL KEEP ME FROM MY GOAL, I WILL BE ONLY TOO HAPPY TO ANSWER THEM AFTER I PLASTER THE WALLS WITH YOUR CORPSES!" With that, he rushed off down the hall, muttering something about turning on his "parental radar" to locate her on his own. Mugetsu and Toriko stared after the enraged Death Scythe.

"Huh…" Stein said, breaking the awkward silence, "I always knew he had a murderous streak in him… If I'd known that all I needed to do to bring it out was kidnap his daughter and try to turn her into a sex slave … Well, I'd have left it alone anyway. We have enough of that crap with that idiot Black Star and his proclamations of "surpassing the gods", so having Spirit-kun running around like a demented Axe-Murderer would be totally unneeded. Come on, let's catch up before he does something stupid." With that, Stein took off after Spirit, throwing aside his lab coat to reveal ghost-white skin covered in visible stitches.

With less than a shrug, the two men ran after their allies, the two small children hanging on for dear life while Knife hopped back onto Toriko's empty shoulder.

_**~ELSEWHERE~**_

IN Cell Block A, Alcapone stepped up to the door he'd seen nearly seven times a day for the last five days, the fingers of one hand messing around with a large object in his pants pocket. He walked opened the door and strolled to the young girl chained to the wall.

"Well, Ms Albarn, It's time for the final dose. You ready? You ain't coming back from this one!" the portly gangster said, pulling a large, metal syringe from his pocket and removing the protective cap.

Maka, worn from little food, almost no water, and utter lack of sleep for five straight days, could do little more than lift her gaze from the floor, showing her blonde hair now fully glued to her head with sweat.

"N-no…" she said, struggling against her chains again, only for her body to once again betray her. She moaned loudly and broke into silent sobs as she felt what had to have been her hundredth consecutive climax tear through her already weakened body. She could do nothing else as she felt the stout man's clammy hands grab her arm, and yelped as the sharp metal broke her skin. For the umpteenth time in the last five days, she felt the liquids within the syringe flow through her blood, and began to wail loudly as she felt the familiar signs of arousal strike her again.

"Oh, and by the way," Alcapone said as he reached into his other pocket, "Do you know what this is?" From that pocket he produced a small, sky-blue ball of spirit energy with a single, spiked tail at the top, a pair of sad-looking eyes, and jagged teeth set in a worried expression.

"S-Soul…" Maka stuttered, feeling her dry throat cracking further as each sound came forth.

Soul could see very little like this, but what he could see made him depressed. His Meister, his best friend… the girls of his dreams was in dire need of his help, but he couldn't get anywhere near her. They'd found a way to make him useless when not within a five-inch radius of Maka's Soul Wavelength, and he was well outside that range.

"I'd suggest saying goodbye to him, because you'll never see him again!" Alcapone said, lifting Soul up by the tail to his mouth. Maka's eyes exploded from her head. With every scrap of strength she could find, she struggled desperately against her chains, her face bearing a distraught expression.

"**NO! NO, NO NO, PEASE, ANYTHING BUT THAT! DON'T DO THIS, NO!"** she shouted over and over again, her eyes locked on Soul's as he was slowly lowered into Alcapone's mouth. As one final push, Alcapone lowered his head so Maka could see Soul inside, and then slowly swallowed. Maka's eyes followed Soul as he descended down Alcapone's throat, his last words echoing through the man's mouth as he left:

"_**Goodbye… Maka… I'm sorry…"**_

With that, Maka's struggles ended and she slumped against the wall behind her. Her eyes were wide in shock and sorrow, with no more than an unending stream of tears running from each eye.

"N-no… Soul…" was all Maka could say as her body quivered from a combination of silent sobs and another three orgasms. Alcapone simply smirked and turned on his heels, laughing cruelly as he left. As the door closed, Maka could have sworn the overweight gangster had mumbled something about tasting peppermint and strawberries…

_**~ELSEWHERE~**_

Mugetsu's group was running full-speed toward Cell Block A when Toriko suddenly gripped his head and slid to one knee. Mugetsu and Stein stopped, while Spirit kept going.

"Tori-kun, what's wrong?" Mugetsu asked. He understood when Toriko looked up and gave him a single, knowing look.

SOUL HAD BEEN EATEN.

"We still have time, though," Toriko said, slowly rising to his feet, "If we can catch Alcapone and incapacitate him, Fork and Knife can perform a special move and extract Soul-san from his body. But we have to move! We've only got a scant half-hour before digestion begins to take place; once that happens, immeasurable damage takes place, and there's no telling what state he'll be in when we extract him!"

_**~TIMER COUNTDOWN: 30 MIN~**_

With that, Toriko rushed off, nodding to his three partners. Fork was the first to vanish, transforming into two objects: a four-toothed guard over his left leg that overlapped his foot and formed a set of claws off the tops of his boots, and a large, four-pointed spear. Knife was next, transforming into two objects also: Over his left foot, Toriko gained what appeared to be a small, open hole, rectangular in shape with the point of a blade showing through it, while in Toriko's right hand formed a large blade.

Spike was last to go, splitting in two and becoming a pair of gauntlets on Toriko's arms that stopped at his elbows, leaving enough room for moving his elbows. However, each gauntlet seemed to have a well-sized round hole above each knuckle.

Just as they rounded a corner, a shout of rage from several halls down to the right caught their attention: It was Spirit, engaging multiple enemies.

"Crap," Stein said, "He's doing something stupid. Let's go!" With that, they tore down the hallway, looking for Spirit. Son they found him, tearing down groups of soldiers with one arm while using the other as a shield to block the shots from the thug's guns. They soon noticed the target of his wrath: Alcapone, slinking off at the back of the group, eyes looking around frantically for more grunts to throw at the wild maniac chasing him. With little warning, Toriko smirked.

_**~TIMER COUNTDOWN: 25 MIN~**_

"GOURMET RESONANCE!" Toriko, Knife and Fork shouted as Toriko threw both his partners' respective arm weapons at Alcapone. The portly man had no time to prepare himself; he soon found himself pinned with his back to a wall, his neck in the middle opening of a large, fork-like lance. He looked for the source of the attack and soon screamed in terror when a large, butter-knife-like blade soared his way, landing just between his legs, sharp side turned towards his sensitive areas. The large man who had thrown the weapons walked over. Alcapone closed his eyes and braced for an impact that never came.

_**~TIMER COUNTDOWN: 20 MIN~**_

"SCATTER FORM: THREE-HIT BLUNT FORCE SPIKE-PUNCH!" Toriko shouted, ramming each of his fists into a random enemy, sending them flying to the walls. Stein watched this, and realized the purpose of the holes: the punches dealt with those gloves released Soul Wavelength that functioned similar to a nail being hammered repeatedly in the same spot. He also noticed that the naming of the attack seemed to have an effect on what sort of attack it was: the holes had fired small bursts of Soul Wavelength in scattered, random patterns, three at a time, and in quick sequence, that forced the for back three times, often leaving them as nothing more than arms and legs hanging limply from craters in the walls. Eventually, Toriko reared back his arms.

"SPIRIT-SAN, GET OUT OF THE WAY! THIS ONE'S GOING TO BE A CROWD-CLEARER!" Toriko shouted, waiting until JUST after Spirit had struck to throw his attack. And, true to his word, it did exactly what Toriko said it would.

_**~TIMER COUNTDOWN: 15 MIN~**_

"SCATTER FORM: FORTY-HIT DOUBLE BLUNT FORCE SPIKED-PUNCH!" Toriko shouted, punching two goons in the back. Each received twenty doses of scattered Soul Wavelength to their spines, which not only forced them further down the hall, but also produced enough of a shockwave that anyone who wasn't knocked over and knocked out by the flying goons was put to bed by the force of the shock wave slamming them into the walls and floor. In no more than a few seconds, the entire crew of goons had been laid waste to, and in an extremely non-lethal fashion.

Toriko turned his attention back to Alcapone, who simply stared at him, scared out of his mind. ONE MAN HAD EFFECTIVELY WIPED THE FLOOR WITH HIS BEST MEN. If this man were to attack him, there wouldn't be enough left of the former mob boss Alcapone to spread on the back of a dust mite.

_**~TIMER COUNTDOWN: 10 MIN~**_

"Fork, Can you spot a prominent soul in there that shouldn't be there?" Toriko asked. Fork's weapon form rippled, allowing her head, neck and one arm to sprout forth. By the look of confusion on her face, she was not happy about that question.

"Tori-kun," she asked, "Are you SERIOUS? This big Meany's got enough souls in him to keep him alive for at LEAST two-hundred more years! It's gonna be hard for me to find JUST ONE!" Toriko nodded.

"Alright Knife, do you thing," he said, smiling a bit as Knife's blade form twisted around until he was in human form again, floating in mid-air due in part to a lack of any physical body from the waist down.

"Yeah yeah," Knife said, shifting his right arm until it resembled an over-sized scalpel. With one swift motion, he lifted his arm up to rest about a foot-and-a-half over Alcapone's bloated stomach.

_**~TIMER COUNTDOWN: 5 MIN~**_

"GOURMET FILLET!" Knife shouted, slicing straight down through the man's stomach. The cut made did not unleash a blast of blood, but instead remained a clean cut, showing no mess or loose guts. Instead, a blast of light and air escaped the wound, before it exploded outward, releasing all the souls he'd devoured. The group waited for Soul to come out.

_**~TIMER COUNTDOWN: 4 MIN~**_

As countless souls flew out, the group continued to wait for just the one they wanted. Knife kept a running tab of how many had been released; at current count, about one-hundred-twenty-five had left.

_**~TIMER COUNTDOWN: 3 MIN~**_

The group began to sweat. Just to make things easier, Spirit left down the hall to look for Maka's cell. Knife announced that they had hit a total of two-hundred-fifty souls released.

_**~TIMER COUNTDOWN: 2 MIN~**_

Spirit came back running, shouting that he'd found Maka's cell; it had been the second one he'd checked. Knife announced the total had reached three-hundred-seventy-five souls, and still no sign of Soul.

_**~TIMER COUNTDOWN: 1 MIN~**_

Suddenly, a familiar sky-blue orb with a spiky tail and down-turned eyes and sharp teeth shot out, soon grabbed gently by Toriko. When it appeared scared, Toriko smiled.

"No need to worry, Kiddo, We're taking you back to your Partner! I'll explain later. Right now, We're running out of time!"

_**~TIMER COUNTDOWN RESET: 2 MIN~**_

With that, Spirit led Toriko back to Maka's cell. However, when they released Soul's orb form into the air, they were taken aback that nothing had happened.

"What the hell is going on? Don't be modest, Soul-kun," Stein said jokingly, "Go ahead and change into human form!"

"_I… I can't…"_

"W-WHAT?" a chorus of voices shouted simultaneously. The bombshell had landed; their plan was about to fail.

_**~TIMER COUNTDOWN: 1 MIN~**_

"_THERE'S A WAY TO FIX THIS! GET ME CLOSE ENOUGH TO MAKE CONTACT WITH MAKA!"_ Soul shouted. Stein looked at Spirit.

"Your job, Spirit-kun… It's the only way to save your daughter," He said coldly, stepping aside. Spirit looked at his Meister and almost snapped, but stopped. Stein was right. This was his only chance. Spirit walked forward and grabbed Soul.

"_Uh… That's kinda tight there, sir!"_ Soul said, several small droplets of sweat forming on his ethereal form.

"NOW'S NOT THE TIME FOR THAT, SOUL!" Spirit shouted, taking three wide steps toward Maka.

_**~TIMER COUNTDOWN: 30 SEC~**_

"MAKA!" Spirit shouted, his eyes clamping shut as he dropped to his knees and pushed Soul toward Maka… a little too fast, and a little too forcefully. In fact, by the time he'd opened his eyes, Soul's ethereal form was gone.

_**~TIMER COUNTDOWN STOPPED~**_

"Soul-kun?" Spirit asked, looking around. Suddenly, from very close to his ear, Soul's voice sprang forth.

"_Right here, Sir,"_ Soul said, slowly emerging like ectoplasm from Maka's stomach. Moments later, he was back in his human form, but something seemed… different. Where once his eyes held a sort of aloof, yet crazed expression, they now were held in a peaceful, happy smile that his mouth, which normally displayed large, sharp teeth and a hint of drool, had changed to share. However, Soul's facial features weren't what had caught Spirit off-guard: Soul, like Maka, was almost naked, save for his underwear.

"Maka," Soul said, his bare arms wrapping gently around her neck in a warm embrace, "I'm here now. You need to wake up, alright?" As if on cue, Maka's green eyes fluttered open, a hint of distance in them.

"S-Soul…" she stammered weakly. Soul's eyes snapped open.

"Oh… Right… Did anyone bring any food or water? They haven't fed Maka or given her anything to drink in five days!" Soul asked, his face growing more and more worried by the second. Toriko nodded and pulled out a small plastic container and a canteen.

"I made a special mash-up for dinner last night; there's not a lot of it left, but it should be enough to get a bit of nutrition into her! The canteen's still pretty full, so that shouldn't be an issue," The muscular man said, offering both, along with a small, plastic fork.

At that time, Spirit reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, rectangular block that looked like a mixture of pound cake and fruitcake.

"This is Maka's favorite… I thought I'd make some and give it to her when she came back. She needs it now, so take it!" Spirit said. Soul nodded and took the provisions.

It took roughly fifteen minutes, but soon Soul had helped Maka eat all of the food, and had helped her drink the water. Soon, a small semblance of strength seemed to show in her; her pale skin was beginning to gain some color back, and her eyes were beginning to come back into focus. With a smile, Soul stepped away from Maka and motioned to Spirit.

"I know you wanted to be the first one she opened her eyes to, Sir… Sorry I took that form you. You can have a moment alone if you like. I need to talk to Sensei and get introduced to these two cool-looking guys over here," Soul said, slowly shambling off toward the others. Spirit nodded and approached Maka carefully. Her eyes opened slowly, looking up at her father.

'T-tou-san?" she asked warily. Spirit nodded and dropped to his knees, forming a scythe blade on his right arm. With one swing, he slashed three times in just the right places. Maka felt relief wash over her as the chains fell, not only off of the wall, but off of her wrists. She breathed a deep sigh.

"T-thanks, tou-san. I'm sorry for all the time I spent pushing you aside…" she started. She was cut off abruptly when Spirit reached down and held her tight, despite her lack of clothing.

"No, you have no reason to apologize. I'm the one that made you hate me; I'm the one that was a horrible father," Spirit said, "If it weren't for my cheating, you, your kaa-san and I would still be a happy family, and I might have been a bit nicer with Soul-kun. As it is, everything that went wrong between us is my fault entirely. I promise on my honor as a Death Scythe, and on my life as your father, that I will NEVER step foot inside another cabaret club or bar EVER. If I'm going to explain my problems to any women, it should be you and your kaa-san. I'm sorry for royally screwing everything up… can you EVER forgive your fool of a father?"Maka's arms rose slowly, soon clamping tight around Spirit's back.

"To tell you the truth…" Maka said, taking her time and carefully choosing her words, "I already did, a long time ago. When you and kaa-san finally got over the divorce, I forgave you. But the thought of forgiving you scared and sickened me… that was why I acted like I hated you. I'd forgiven a man who I'd called my tou-san for so long for something no man should ever do, when I'd sworn to myself never to do so. I couldn't stand myself… and sitting here for the last five days with no food, no water, and no company except for my thoughts helped me realize that; my actions were me trying desperately to cling to the past, a past where you, in my mind, were no more than a scumbag… But looking back on everything since then, you've been going out of your way to make up for what you did. So, yes, I do have a reason to apologize: for being a completely miserable excuse for a daughter for so many years… years that we could have used to re-connect and bond… and heal from our wounds." With that, Maka reached up and kissed Spirit on the cheek, smiling as tears started rolling out of her eyes and onto his suit.

Spirit nodded and, with no more than a single twitch, started crying with his daughter. Meanwhile, over with the others, Stein looked over with Soul.

"Look at that… This is truly a sight I never thought I'd see!" Stein said. Soul nodded, loosely tying a sash around Stein's lab coat to serve as more of a bath-robe… kind of. He'd rolled the sleeves up to rest under his elbows, while cutting up the coat tails a bit and tying them around his legs just above the knees. So, really, the coat was now more of a one-piece jump-suit.

"I know…" Soul said flatly, "I'd always wished they'd just bury the hatchet… always having to be at odds with her dad was annoying, to be honest. I mean, everywhere we go, he tried to be there to see her, and picks a fight for no reason whatsoever… It was like a poorly written soap opera plot…" Stein gave Soul a knowing look.

"I know that feeling… being trapped by something you can't control…" Stein said, vaguely referring to his on-going battle with the madness within him. Soul nodded.

"Ah, so your "Medusa Factor" has been acting up again, huh?" Soul said, not trying to sound like he was mocking Stein, because, truth be told, he was in no position to be mocking Stein at all. In fact, Stein's fight was similar in many ways with one Soul had to fight constantly… a battle with his own blood.

Not many people knew, but during their quest, Maka and Soul had run across a rogue Meister named Crona, who'd had his Weapon partner, the Demon Sword Ragnarok melted down and injected into his blood; basically, the two shared one body, and helped each other, even IF Ragnarok was no more than a scheming bully who liked to pick on the far-more-than-timid Crona. They'd only been fighting for a few minutes when Crona knocked Soul from Maka's hands and slammed her against a wall, then moved in for the kill. Neither Crona nor Maka had expected Soul, the discarded weapon, to come back and block the kill strike, taking the full blow to his chest and passing out. At that time, Some of Crona's blood had entered into Soul's wound, effectively infecting him with the madness-infused "Black Blood". Now Soul had to fight against himself to keep his head in check and not lose his sanity. He'd had a few moments where his control had nearly been compromised, but had held enough control to keep from losing it.

Looking back on things, he and Stein were in the same boat, and neither had any right to mock the other for it, which was why the two seemed to have more amiable conversations when around each other; each understood the other's plight and was able to sympathize.

"Yep, you could say that, Soul-kun," Stein said, "But for now, don't you think you should be… I don't know… staying closer to Maka-chan in case you're the next one she wants to hold?" Soul acted as if thinking for a moment.

"Actually-GAH!" He said, hitting the ground on his knees and grasping his head as his tranquil eyes exploded into a pained look. Stein, Mugetsu and Toriko watched as Soul writhed in place for a good few moments.

Spirit heard Soul's cry of pain and turned to see what was wrong. This lead Maka look up from her father's suit and gaze in Soul's direction, worried for him. However, no one was ready for Maka's own scream of pain to rip through her throat as she landed in the fetal position on the ground, rolling in pain.

A second later, two small dust-storms kicked up in the small cell, followed by two pillars of light that encased Maka and Soul. Out of those pillars rose their respective souls, which now strangely resembled clock-work gears. Both started spinning towards each other, and as soon as one tooth of Soul's gear met an opening in Maka's and a united cry of "SOUL SYNCHRONIZATION COMPLETE!", a blinding flash sent everyone in the room reeling. Soon the dust settled and the lights faded. Everyone present opened their eyes to see an amazing sight.

Standing back-to-back were Maka and Soul, Maka now looking much stronger and healthier than before, her hair back in place and free of sweat, and her eyes back to their brilliant green hue. Soul, on the other hand, looked as he had when he emerged from Maka's body. However, the biggest change was the fact that where they had been in nothing but underwear before the screams started, they were now fully clothed.

Maka's attire was different from her normal black suit-and-coat-tails, and on top of that, so was her hair. Her hair was now shoulder-length and bordering on platinum-blonde in color. Her pigtails were now a pair of long bangs that curled around into an upside-down heart shape off the sides of her face, almost like oddly-hung earrings. A pair of artistic heart tattoos now displayed themselves at the inside edges of her eyes, one half just under the eyes and the other formed into the curve of her nose. In addition, a simple blue hair-band now rested two inches into her hairline, each side ending in another heart decoration.

In place of her old coat was a skin-tight blue denim shirt with elbow-length sleeves, under which was a white shirt that went to just past her wrists with heart-shaped cuffs, styled in a strange way: the two round ends extended to wrap around the backs and sides of her hands, while the points wrapped up from under her wrists to slide between her middle and ring fingers to join with the rest of the cuff as a form of arm guard. Her legs were covered off in a pair of faded blue jeans with crescent-shaped cuts and tears that started just above her hips and ended above her knees, then started again below the knees to finish above her ankles. Her feet were now in a pair of comfortable-looking, open-toed blur boots that ended just under her ankles to reveal a pair of white socks. Each boot had a heart on the front, and the makings of a heart design were on the sides of each sock, positioned around her ankles.

Soul's transformations, however, was a little less extreme… but that depended on how well those around him knew him. His normally white hair now had a slight tinge of light blue in it, and was swept back in three large spikes, one out directly above and behind each ear and one more at the center of the back of his head. His eyebrows also now held the same blue-tinged white shade, and strangely bent upward, then downward near the middle, only to sweep back up in a trio of short spikes. His red eyes now tilted back a bit in a more relaxed, yet strikingly quizzical manner. It literally seemed like he was always two seconds away from asking, "What the hell is THAT?"

The prominent scar on his chest from his first battle with Crona was now covered off in a black leather shirt with rips in choice places, and a red leather vest overtop. The shirt reached to the middle of his forearms, where the sleeves ended in a pair of clasps connected to a pair of black, spiked, fingerless gloves and a set of small spiked coming off of each fingertip, like specialized armor. His blue pants were now replaced with a pair of red leather shorts that stopped mid-shin. His feet were covered in black socks, which were tucked into black sneakers with intricate red markings on them that resembled triple spikes.

Soul tilted his head towards Maka, his face remaining the same, and said, "Hey Maka… Do you feel… different, somehow?"

Maka tilted her own head towards Soul, he face now taking on a thoughtful expression, and saying, "You know what, Soul? I kinda do… almost as if a giant weight's been lifted off my shoulders. I feel stronger too… though I can't see how I could be; I haven't eaten, drank, or slept in five days. I wonder… what's going on?"

At that point, Spirit felt a shifting in his pocket and pulled out the mask, which soon plastered itself onto his face. Within seconds, the mask has changed to contour to Spirit's head, and a few seconds afterward, Shinigami's voice came out.

"_**I BELIEVE I CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION!"**_ He shouted, drawing everyone's attention. With that, Shinigami continued.

"_**I've been watching the whole thing through my mirror. I always had a feeling you two were destined for something greater than mere Death Scythe status, Maka and Soul. You see, becoming a Death Scythe may not be a walk in the park, but the power it grants is incredible and sometimes overwhelming. However, there are only a select few that can proceed beyond that power and forge ahead into something unique to any Meister/Weapon partnership. What just happened was, in part due to Spirit-kun, so you should be sure to thank him afterwards, please.**_

"_**Generally speaking, any Meister can form a partnership with any Weapon, but they won't be effective if their souls don't match, and therefore, cannot achieve even a basic Soul Resonance. Therefore, it is for that reason why Meisters and Weapons are encouraged at Shibusen to form partnerships on one simple requirement: a good level of compatibility between their souls, which is usually formed through a harmless party to welcome new students That is why most of the teams at the school are so functional. However, When I saw you two, I noticed something odd about you both. You both seem to harbor a special and highly rare genetic phenomenon known as a "Lux Spark", which allows the Meister and Weapon to attain a higher form of power after achieving something known only in books as "Perfect Soul Synchronization". This process usually takes years… and is done mostly through the Meister and Weapon falling in love.**_

"_**In contrast to that, you two have continued to single-handedly defy all odds. You were the first to attain Death Scythe status of any of the rookie teams, and worked yourselves hard to achieve it. However, it was through your separation and Alcapone's eating of Soul that set your Sparks fluctuating. When Spirit-kun forced you into Maka's body, Soul, it launched the first stage of a process called "Evolution Lux", where the Spark resonates in synch with your souls to draw them closer together. You two completed the most PERFECT synchronization I've ever witnessed. Your Sparks seem to have changed your physical abilities as well, so You'll need to do a whole lot more training to master your new powers. When I say "YOU", I mean BOTH of you, because in the act of synchronizing your souls, you also have shared your best and worst traits with each other on a genetic level,**_

"_**For example, Maka now has Demon Scythe blood in her body, while Soul now has his own variant of the Anti-Demon Wavelength. These two traits have been altered and passed between the two of you so much in the short few moments you've been this way that you've BOTH unlocked the basics of Elemental Control; in your cases, WIND Control. Your evolution has turned you into Aero Death Scythes; symbiotic pair that can be each other's Meister to the other's Weapon and wield the wind as if it were your scythe blades. You will probably feel a tiny bit of back-lash from first activation soon, but I must impress upon you one SERIOUS WARNING: DO NOT ATTEMPT SOUL RESONANCE IN THIS STATE; YOU ARE NOT READY FOR IT YET."**_ With that, Shinigami finished, waiting for questions. Soul was the first to step up.

"What exactly does that mean, we've "Evolved"?" he asked. Shinigami nodded Spirit's head.

"_**Simply put, your bodies have transcended their normal capabilities and progressed to a higher plane of existence. There are very, VERY FEW Death Scythes and Meisters who have managed to hit your current power level. And before you ask, Maka,"**_ Shinigami said, _**"The reason I warned you against attempting Soul Resonance in your current state would put a massive strain on BOTH of you. The most likely result of an attempt would be both of you collapsing from instant fatigue. Just do your best to leave that building!"**_ With that, the mask receded, returning to its original form and slipping off of Spirit's head. Soul turned, standing straight, and held Maka's hands in both of his.

'Maka… Let's get the hell out of here, alright?" Soul said. Maka nodded and smiled, turning toward the door on her heel and rushing toward it.

From outside the door, a small voice yelled, "CRAP! HE GOT FREE!"

Just as Maka reached the door, the short, bloated body of Alcapone stepped through the frame and lunged. Maka gasped, feeling not only the air rushing from her lungs, but the sharp pain of a metal object in her stomach as well. Looking down, she found the fat man smiling wickedly… with a second syringe in his hand, the tip of which was embedded in her stomach.

Choking and struggling to pull air to her lungs, Maka stumbled back and collapsed, leaving Soul to see the syringe in her belly.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Soul shouted, activating his Weapon Blood and transforming his arm into a scythe blade. However, unlike most times when it happened, the blade was longer, slightly wider in the arc, had a simple-looking series of four zigzags in the center, held together by two straight lines… and was pointed at Alcapone, instead of straight up into the air.

"I'm GOING TO RIP OUT YOUR SOUL AND DESTROY IT!" Soul shouted again, leaping high into the air and aiming his arm for Alcapone. The overweight gangster simply smiled sinisterly and pulled out another needle… only to drop it when Soul's body vanished from the area.

"W-what?" Alcapone said, eyes darting around in panic. Suddenly Soul appeared behind him and, shrinking his blade down in size, impaled Alcapone from behind. The gangster's eyes exploded, turning slightly to see the boy who'd injured him.

"Y-YOU THINK YOU'VE WON, BOY?" Alcapone said, dissolving into a vapor that floated away out the door. Soul knelt next to Maka and helped her sit up.

"MAKA! WHAT DID HE DO?" Soul shouted. Maka's eyes opened slowly in a gentle smile.

"He… didn't do anything," Maka said, standing on her own. Soul's eyes bugged out.

"B-But how? I saw the needle in your stomach!" Soul said, confused.

Maka reached down and pulled the syringe out of her stomach with a groan, then tossed it away.

"My body's so used to the crap in those syringes that, thanks to our evolution, I've developed immunity to it. All he really managed to do was make me bleed and wind me. I'm perfectly fine," Maka said. Soul smiled and hugged her tight.

"I glad… we should get out of here now, before he comes back!" he said, looking a little worried. Maka nodded.

"Hang on," Mugetsu said, "I should let the other groups know first. We have to rendezvous with them in the main room before we leave!" With that, he closed his eyes and focused.

Across the compound, Sid's, Kid's, and Ichirou's groups heard. _"ATTENTION ALL SQUADS! TARGETS MAKA AND SOUL HAVE BEEN LOCATED AND RECOVERED! BETA SQUAD, PLEASE PROCEED TO RENDEZVOUS POINT!"_ It was only moment later that Ichirou's voice rang in his head:

"_ROGER THAT; BETA SQUAD HAS MADE CONTACT WITH TEAM SHADOW, AND WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF COMBAT AGAINST A LARGE MONSTER… AT THE RENDEZVOUS POINT! WE NEED BACK-UP!"_

Mugetsu turned to everyone and said, "I big monster has appeared at the rendezvous point, and two of the other teams have engaged it, but need back-up. We need to get over there RIGHT NOW!" with that, Maka, Soul, Stein, Spirit, Mugetsu, Toriko, as well as Fork, Knife and Spike, tore off down the hallway to meet with the others.

After about five minutes of turning corners and running down halls, they finally arrived, only to see the BIGGEST beast any of them had ever seen: A large, almost humanoid spider being with a large belly… and Alcapone's face on it.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Soul shouted, "HOW'D HE GET SOMETHING LIKE THAT?"

"He must have absorbed some of the power of Arachne's Witch Soul from yours while you were inside him, Soul-kun," Stein said. Soul nodded.

"So how do we beat it?" he asked.

"The same way we beat everyone AND everything else, Soul," Maka said, stretching out her hand. Soul grabbed it, but instead of him vanishing into a swirl of energy and becoming a scythe, it was Maka that shifted form, swirling into a cloud of energy before becoming a scythe.

Soul looked up and down the weaponized form of his partner. The shaft golden in color and was long enough that Maka's Scythe form was exactly as tall as he was, with the blade starting at eye level. The blade was rather odd for a scythe; instead of a simple curve, the blade resembled a bent French fry, in that it did, indeed curve, but looked as though it had been passed through a crinkle-cut machine. Despite its look, the scythe blade was short, but looked like it could extend farther at will. None the less, Soul smiled at the hints of pink that replaced his normal red, and the dark grey that replaced the black. The blade was connected to the shaft by a simple metal heart with devices resembling clasps that were attached to various locations in a clock-like pattern. Within the heart was a single eye design, which almost resembled Maka's own eyes.

"Wow, Maka… didn't know you had THIS in you!" Soul said with a smile, spinning the shaft between three fingers for a good five seconds before getting into a ready stance. He slid into place on the ground, left leg held out and bent a bit at the knee while his right was left to balance his frame from beneath. Soul held Maka's shaft in a reverse grip, keeping her blade leveled with his back and curved out behind him. His other hand extended outward, fingers curled like claws.

"Ready Maka?" Soul asked.

"You bet!" Maka replied happily.

"THEN LET'S ROCK!" both yelled together as Soul rushed in, ducking into a foot-first slide under the monster's legs, delivering a sharp slice behind both knees in passing. The monster roared in anger and swung its arms down to attack, only for Soul to block with Maka's blade.

"Maka, try extending some extra blades through the main one! A sort of counter-attack!" Soul said, straining to hold the powerful arms at bay. Maka focused and, moments later, several extra-sharp blades shot from her main blade. Three punctures each arm, while another two sliced them in passing.

The monster once more roared in rage and took a step back.

"Soul, place the tip of my blade against the pavement behind you and swing when I say to; I'll do the rest!" Maka shouted. Soul nodded and did as told. He waited, watching as the beast took an extra step back, then raced at the two with all its might for a tackle.

"NOW!" Maka shouted. Soul pulled up on the blade, but found he was flying up into the air; Soul realized that he'd just used the blade as a reverse pole-vault, and soon the shaft split from the blade. Recognizing the bonus of this move, Soul managed a couple bladed kicks of his own before Maka's scythe blade whipped up from behind him and returned to the base. In that moment, the monster was directly below them.

"SOUL, NOW!" Maka shouted. Soul nodded.

"THIS IS FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE, AND FOR EVERYONE YOU'VE HURT AND KILLED UNTIL NOW!" Soul shouted, bringing the blade down, blunt-side, onto the beast's head in a concussive slam that dragged it into the floor.

"THIS IS FOR SWALLOWING ME!" Soul turned Maka's blade around and picked up the monster on the tip of the blade, then tossed it high.

"AND THIS… IS FOR EVERYTHING YOU DID TO MAKA!" Soul shouted, jumping to meet the beast and slicing through it with the blade. The beast screamed in anger before falling limp to the floor. Soul tossed Maka into the air, allowing her to return to human form while landing on her feet. The two exchanged a smile.

Suddenly the beast rose, instantly gaining twice its size in pure muscle and height. Maka and Soul motioned for everyone to get back and leave this to them. Black Star didn't want to, but recognized the significant boost in their powers and chose not to become potential collateral damage by being in the line of fire.

This time Soul transformed, landing as a new scythe in Maka's hand. She took a quick look at him and, despite being highly impressed by his new appearance and lack of weight, turned and marveled on his new form silently. The blade, as had been on his arm before, now extended out a good six feet in a wide arc that ended with a single, up-turned spike at the end of the blade. The shaft was a good foot shorter than Maka was used to, which meant she would have to get used to shorter, quicker movements that didn't cause her to overextend herself. Soul's signature single eye was present as always, holding the blade and the shaft together, only this time, instead of his old Death Scythe form, it was held together by four large spikes on each side arranged in a clock pattern so that two connected above the blade, two connected to the blade, and two connected to the shaft, leaving two to hang out the back as a side handle.

Maka suddenly understood the purpose behind the smaller handle: the side handle was meant to supplement attacks by allowing her to use one hand to swing and the other to pull the handle, adding momentum to her swings.

"Maka, do with me what you asked me to do last time; I'll handle everything, alright?" Soul asked. Maka nodded. She did as he requested and waited for the beast to close in.

"NOW!" Soul shouted. Maka swung and, as she did so, Soul used the hook on the tip of his blade as a focus point, catching hold of a bit of air. As Maka swung upward, the blade caught the beast off-guard, but knocked him back… with a slash of pure air swung with the force of a semi. Maka stared at the beast, and then looked down to gape at the four-foot long, two-foot deep groove in the pavement.

"A … Wind Blade?" Maka asked. Soul popped his head through the blade and smiled.

"That should give us an advantage, huh?" he said happily, hopping back into human form and focusing his power on just his hand. Soon, Maka stared at what had become of Soul's left hand: In place of fingers, Soul now had five short, yet doubtlessly razor-sharp scythe blades attached to his knuckles, which bent where his knuckles should have been. He looked over and winked.

"What say we double-team this one?" he asked before leaping back into the fray, instantly taking a large chunk of flesh out of the monster with a single swing of his hand. Maka nodded and focused her own powers into her hand. She felt a tingling rush of metal in her hand, then opened her eyes to see that her fingernails had been replaced by tapered scythe blades, six inches in length, that started wide on her fingers but shrank down to a single, sharp point at the ends. She smirked and leapt back into the fight, swinging her hand and taking off one of the beast's legs.

Several feet away, Spirit looked on, stunned.

"WOW… where were they hiding all of THAT? Is that just from becoming a Death Scythe?" Black Star asked. Stein shook his head.

"No, Black Star," he said, "That's an entirely different power born from their friendship. Theirs is a powerful bond that created their powers. You've got a ways to go before you hit that." Black Star simply looked shocked.

"For all my talk of surpassing the gods…" the boy said, staring at the carnage Maka and Soul were unleashing, "and they beat me to it… Well, time to refocus my goals and stop with the annoying grandstanding, I guess." Stein gave him a look of confusion, which Black Star answered with a chuckle.

"I may have been using that grandstanding as a way to push myself harder, but after all we've been through in the past five days, today especially, I can see that shouting it to the heavens isn't going to get me there any faster. I have to focus and redouble my efforts, while internalizing my grandstanding. I can gloat all I like in my head, where it won't bother anyone, and I can train better that way," the boy said with a smile. Stein grinned at him, quickly returning his gaze to the fight… just in time for Maka and Soul to go flying past him.

"Soul… He's too tough like this… We may have to go over Shinigami-sama's head this time!" Maka said. Soul looked at her in shock.

"You can't be serious, Maka! You heard what he said; it'll be too much for us to handle!" Soul responded. Maka's reply was to turn and look him in the eyes.

"Since WHEN has that stopped YOU before? Since WHEN has it stopped EITHER of us?" Maka said, a mischievous look in her eyes. Soul thought about it for a moment before smiling back at her.

"Alright then. Let's give it a try. It may have to be a little different now that we're both Weapon and Meister, but it should still work, right?" Soul asked, transforming his right arm into a scythe and extending his other to help Maka stand. She happily took his hand and got to her feet, transforming her left arm into a scythe and keeping hold of his left hand in her right. They crossed their blades and started channeling their energy. As soon as they started, however, they began building it up rapidly. The force of the rapid influx of power caused them to release a shockwave that sent their teammates fleeing or falling onto their backs. Maka and Soul continued forcing their energies higher and higher, until they felt it hit critical levels.

"SOUL RESONANCE!" they shouted together. A dust storm kicked up around them, from which erupted a single beam of black light. When both the light and the dust storm died out, everyone In the room looked … and their jaws smashed through the floor simultaneously.

Standing in the same place as before were Soul and Maka, only they now each wore a black cloak with a hood and two long pieces at the ends that looked like coat-tails. However, by their voices alone, the others could tell something was VERY off.

Maka spoke first, her voice taking on a more sultry tone as she all but whispered to Soul, "Hey Soul… we gonna take this thing down?"

Soul nodded, his voice sounding a bit crazed and deeper than before as he replied, "Yeah… let's take him out NOW. I'm itching to lock his soul away forever!"

With that and no warning, the two vanished, appearing right behind the monster's body, each holding a single arm, now transformed into a scythe with a wickedly curved blade, aloft.

"TWIN REAPER SCYTHE!" Maka and Soul intoned, bringing both arms down and trisected the beast. With one single scream that sounded more feminine than masculine, the beast exploded into a storm of energy, revealing a small shred of a see-through, purple soul with a small, lightning-shaped protrusion on one side. Underneath it was Alcapone, returned to his human body, cowering under the gaze of the two who had separated him from the source of his new power. He watched as the shred of the soul floated over to an outstretched hand, which gently grabbed it and lifted it into the hood, where a simply slurping sound could be heard.

"AH…" Soul said behind his hood, "It feels good to have ALL of my power back…" With that, he grabbed the left shoulder of his cloak and pulled it off, revealing a new look for the second time that day.

Soul's previous clothes had been replaced by a simple black bodysuit with skulls on the shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees, ankles, and feet, and bone-like etchings along portions of the arms and legs. A design of a horribly mangled rib-cage was emblazoned on his chest, while his hair, now pitch black with red streaks and devoid of the hair-band, now fell to his shoulder in a row of five spikes, each split at the middle to make three each. His face was bent into a wicked sneer, which was made scarier by his eyes, which were now pitch black with no more than a single red spot for his pupils.

"Nice look, Soul…" Maka said, grabbing the right shoulder of her own cloak and tossing it aside in a dramatic flair. However, where there reaction to Soul's transformation had been one of awed shock, the reaction to what had become of Maka was more varied.

Black Star gaped while trying to stop a bleeding nose; Tsubaki, who had transformed back into human form when she'd felt the effects of the drug wear off, stared in abject shock; Stein gawked with a confused look on his face; Mugetsu and Toriko stared with barely a change in facial expression, choosing to mask their thoughts; Ichirou's mouth had long been embedded in the floor, and now had a large pool of blood in it which had dripped there from his nose; Kid had passed out from nasal blood loss, with Liz staring at Maka in amazement and Patti kicking Kid to try and wake him up; Knife and Spike had heavy blushes on their faces, while Fork was looking up at Maka's new form with a bright, adoring smile.

Spirit, however, was the only one whose reaction brought everyone else crashing back to earth.

"M-my little girl…" Spirit said, before passing out from shock.

**Right next to Soul was Maka, completely remade from top to bottom. Her shoulder-length blonde hair was now down to her waist and bore the same black-with-red-streaks look that Soul's had, only this time her bangs, starting where her hair parted, formed a long, twisted heart that framed her face and STAYED THERE, not moving an inch. Her eyes now resembled Soul's only her pupils were green. In place of her previous clothing, Maka's attire now consisted solely of leather with three vertical red stripes in choice places, from the black bra and high-collared black vest that held back her now visibly increased bust, to the simple-looking extra-low-cut, yet tight-fitting shorts that only covered the sensitive areas and were held up by a black belt. Even her socks, one of which went to mid-thigh while the other rested below her knee, and her boots, which stopped a quarter of the way from her knees, were made of leather, if the constant squeaking sounds made when she moved around were any indication. The belt, now that the group had a chance to look, was studded, and had a buckle resembling a skull with wings in the eyes sockets. As her left hand, clad in a black leather glove, rested on her hip, her right reached up to run her black-leather-clad fingers through her hair for effect.

Soul looked over and whistled in appreciation, saying, "DAMN… I liked you more before Maka! Now you're trying to give me MORE reasons to like you? Settle down already!" His voice dripped with playful sarcasm. Maka smiled and laughed.

"What about you, Soul? I always liked you better when I COULDN'T see your muscles. Does your outfit HAVE to show off EVERYTHING?" she retorted, her voice still keeping the sultry sound while dripping with the same playful sarcasm Soul had. Soul found it funny and laughed before catching sight of Alcapone, who had scurried a short way away, sweating profusely. Soul looked to Maka.

"We REALLY ought to finish him off. The longer we wait, the more of a chance he has to get away and start fresh," he said.

"You're right, Soul. What say we finish him together?" She asked, turning her right arm into a scythe blade that soon popped a little off her elbow with a "KLAK". Soul nodded and did the same with his left arm, which made a "CLINK" sound as it shifted off his elbow. With no warning, they took quick aim and launched their blades off their arms and walking towards them.

Alcapone got to his feet and tried to run, only to be impaled through the back by both blades, which pulled him off his feet and back towards their owners. The portly mob boss screamed in terror as his life flashed before his eyes. As the blades reached Maka and Soul, they turned their spare arms into blades and held them parallel to each other, slashing outward and pulling sharply to dislodge their blades from the fat man's back. The force of the attacks sliced the gangster in half and left two extra-large gouges in both halves of his body. As soon as the two halves hit the ground, they disintegrated, turning soon after into a single orb with a scant mustache and a tall hat; the odd thing was, this soul was totally black through and through.

Maka turned to Soul, who seemed to be regarding the soul before them, and said, "Don't tell me you're actually thinking of NOT eating this one!" Soul looked at her with total revulsion in his eyes.

"ARE YOU NUTS? Not only is this thing completely corrupt and evil," Soul said, "This is also the soul of the man who did horrible things to you. Why would I want that kind of soul in my body? Who knows what it would do to me… or make ME do to YOU…" Maka looked Soul in the eyes and saw genuine fear.

"Soul…" she said, "Well… alright, what did you want to do with it?" Soul thought for a second, then turned his left index finger into a scythe. He poked the small black soul once and pulled away, watching happily as the thing cracked all over and exploded into black dust that blew into the air and disintegrated.

"His soul doesn't deserve a place in this world. Better to just get rid of it than let it roam loose; wouldn't want him taking control of someone else and starting fresh, right?" Soul asked as a bright light engulfed him, returning him to his Aero Death Scythe attire.

Maka smiled and said, "Good thinking… Wouldn't want to be hunting him down again, right?" As soon as she finished speaking, her body was engulfed in a bright light which, when it subsided, revealed her own Aero Death Scythe form. The two smiled at each other… and promptly passed out, collapsing toward each other and landing on the floor in each others' arms. Mugetsu smiled and motioned to Toriko

"Guess Shinigami-sama was right on this one… that extra boost in power, no matter how great, was too much for them to handle. At least they fell asleep together…" Mugetsu said. Toriko nodded.

"Yep… They're great together, and perfect for each other… I get the feeling Shinigami-sama isn't going to like this very much, though…" The muscular giant said. Sid and the rest of Delta Squad popped in at that time.

"Mission accomplished! Let's get everyone together and get out of here! The first explosive is rigged to go off in about five minutes, with each one after that only a few seconds behind!" Sid said. Toriko scooped up Maka and Soul while Ichirou picked up Kid, and the group, now reunited, set off to leave. As soon as they were a safe distance outside of the compound, the first of the micro-explosives went off, blowing off a large chunk of the west wing of the place. Soon, every other explosion began going off, sending the whole place to hell in a series of small, fiery explosions. The group stared at the explosions for a short time, then headed back to Shibusen.

_**~BACK AT SHIBUSEN, SEVERAL DAYS LATER~**_

Shinigami stood before all who had been present at the time of Maka and Soul's Soul Resonance. The majority of those who had been involved with the operation stood behind the two, who were directly in front of Shinigami.

"**Alright you two, show me what you did that destroyed Alcapone's soul. Show me the new Soul Resonance you can achieve," **Shinigami said. With that, Maka and Soul adopted their stance and soon, after a burst of light and a small wind storm, the two reappeared in their black-cloak-covered forms. They quickly cast aside the cloaks to reveal their clothing underneath.

"**Fascinating… The first partnership EVER to achieve the highest form of power out there… THE POWER OF THE REAPER DEATH SCYTHE,"** Shinigami said.

Sid looked up and asked, "What is that, exactly? I've never even heard of an Evolved Death Scythe, let alone ANYTHING Maka-san and Soul-kun have attained in the last few days!" Shinigami nodded and took a breath.

"**I'll start from the beginning,"** Shinigami said,** "800 years ago, the witch Arachne, who now resides within Soul-kun as a part of his own power, created the first Demon Weapon, she killed one human, one witch, and fused their souls into a simple weapon, then scattered traces of that weapon's blood around the world. As it turns out, that VERY FIRST WEAPON was the Demon Holy Sword Excalibur."** With that, Black Star's eyes popped out of his head.

"THAT JERK EXCALIBUR WAS THE FIRST ONE EVER?" The boy exploded. Shinigami nodded.

"**Indeed he was," **Shinigami said, **"In fact, as it happens, it's HIS blood that makes ALL the Demon Weapons possible. However, that doesn't mean they all share his perfectionist personality, as you've seen. Now, back to what I was saying before."**

"**After Excalibur came many other, but it was not until a certain Demon Shield and her Meister that the first Evolved Death Scythe was seen. They lost everything only a few years after obtaining it when they had to defend their family from a rampant army of evil souls, however. A dedication spot was made in their honor outside the school. However, it was revealed through a few serious biological tests that the source of their evolved power was not anything physical, but a spiritual matter. The "Lux Spark" I spoke of earlier is a special signal laying dormant in the brains of humans and weapons alike which only activated when a human and weapon fall head-over-heels in love with each other… but try their hardest to hide it from everyone and themselves. In the end, it manifests itself as an extremely powerful desire to protect the other half of the team, even if it means their own death, or in some cases, worse. It is also accompanied by an extreme sensation of guilt when one part of the team is forcefully removed from the other. Maka-chan, what did you feel inside when Alcapone ate Soul-kun?"** Maka looked at Shinigami, then at Soul, then at the floor.

"I… I felt helpless… I felt alone… I felt like a huge part of who I was had just been torn from me… For the first time since I came to Shibusen, I felt… alone and weak. I couldn't move to save Soul, no matter what I did… and it made me sick. I felt guilty… guilty that it was all my ceaseless pushing and striving that got him taken from me…I felt… Like I wasn't worthy anymore…" Maka said, tears overflowing in her eyes as she hit the ground and wept.

"**It would have been a sad thing if you HADN'T felt that way after all you've been through. Soul-kun,"** Shinigami said, **"What about you? What did you feel when you saw Maka before you were eaten?"** Soul's eyes closed, and the upper half of his face was now lost to a black veil. His fists clenched tight and the sound of his teeth grinding together could be faintly heard.

"I… I wanted to kill him…" Soul said, his voice becoming gritty and dark, "I wanted to pin him against a wall and make him suffer the most gruesome tortures imaginable for what he'd done to Maka… He was hurting my greatest friend in the world… I couldn't take it, but I couldn't do anything to fight back or help her… I felt useless… I felt like I was letting her down. I couldn't stand being so weak and unhelpful…" As if to punctuate his sentence, Soul aimed his left hand to his side and let a blast of compressed air shoot from his hand, putting a deep dent in the floor that immediately reformed itself.

"But there was something else… I wanted him to hurt as Maka hurt, but I was afraid… what if I started in on him… but couldn't control myself in my anger and attacked Maka next? I … I wouldn't be able to live with myself if that happened… I couldn't let that happen…" Soul said, hitting his knees on the ground, his entire body tense and shaking violently.

"**I understand completely, Soul-kun,"** Shinigami said, **"I understand what it's like to have the desire to make those who hurt someone close to you suffer in return, but to be frightened of injuring the one you care for in the act of doing so. That's exactly what I'm talking about."** Maka seemed to stop crying momentarily and wiped her eyes to look up at Shinigami, while Soul's shaking died down so he could shift his head enough to look the floating being in his "eyes".

"**The two of you, whether you want to admit it or not, share a deep bond of friendship that has grown to be more. You started out as friends, but your admiration for the parts of your partner you lacked and your care and consideration for each other ultimately evolved your friendship into something more. You haven't noticed it yet… or maybe you have… that things seem to take less and less time to get over when it's between the two of you. Insignificant things turn into a little argument, but it quickly becomes water under the bridge. Training could be going well, then go awry, and the most you'll think about it will be over dinner that night. Anything you do that the other finds annoying or offensive is easily ignored and left alone… because you fear pushing the envelope and alienating them. You fear that bringing it up and making a big deal of it will eventually push the two of you completely out of sync. "**

"**The fact alone that you care enough to sacrifice yourselves to save each other is testament to your unbreakable bond. You've unlocked the strongest powers of all… but with that power come responsibilities and battles like you've never been in before. As the ONLY TWO LIVING Reaper Death Scythes in existence, the evil souls of this world will undoubtedly triple and quadruple their efforts to become stronger, and when they do, they'll set YOU TWO as their primary targets, because your souls will make them god-like in terms of power to the point that I would have to step in and take over the fight. You two will have to train yourselves AND each other to the point where you trust each other COMPLETELY, no matter what kind of attacks you intend to use, as well as increasing your control and tolerance to the intense power of your new forms."**

"**As it stands, what you could do before has been enhanced and strengthened to put you almost on my level, if not JUST above it. Your bodies are now flexible enough to fit into ANY space AND you can transform any and ALL portions of your body into your scythe blades, which CAN and WILL stretch to meet any and all needs. You can use your Aero powers in this form, and aside from that… We'll have to find out. There is a lot about this that we don't entirely know. You will be the pioneers in this right; the first two ever to achieve this form. That is all… enjoy the rest of the day; We'll have a celebratory concert in three days to welcome the both of you and Tsubaki-san back,"** Shinigami finished. Maka and Soul nodded with a smile. Soul stood first and held out his hand to help Maka stand. She took it and stood, throwing herself into his arms as soon as her feet touched the ground.

"Soul, promise you won't ever leave me?" Maka asked. Soul smiled.

"Maka…" Soul said, his voice losing its rough tone to sound softer and gentler, "I wasn't ever planning on it." Soul wrapped his arms around his partner and held her tight, smiling when he felt her melt into his embrace.

_**~THREE DAYS LATER~**_

The entire academy had gotten dressed up in their best suits and dresses, or in the case of some students, their best formal wear for the big event: The Grand Welcome Back Party for Maka, Soul and Tsubaki, all of whom had been mobbed upon their entrances by people who had wanted the full story.

The group had been formally introduced to Ichirou and Mugetsu, as well as Toriko and his partners. Everyone had finally managed to meet the last of Toriko's group, the towering hulk known as Akuma Demos. Akuma was roughly seven feet tall with red skin and a totally RIPPED figure and a full head of wavy purple hair that extended to his lower back, yet somehow managed to stay out of his face. He wore an outfit similar to Toriko's, only his was darker in color overall with ripped sleeve cuffs and pant legs, and his large feet protruded through his too-small sneakers. His most outstanding feature, however, was not the claws on his fingers and toes or the way his elbows and knees seemed to be sharp enough to penetrate steel; it was his FACE. Akuma's face was long and ghoulish in appearance, save for his red skin. His nose was long, his jaws always open to display long, jagged teeth, and his black eyes sat beneath hairless eyebrows. All in all, Akuma struck a HIGHLY terrifying figure.

Black Star had kept everyone away from Tsubaki, saying she still needed some room to breathe and properly recover.

Maka, however, felt she had the best security in the room: SOUL, who was doing nothing but flash his red-on-black eyes in a "Scare Glare" that kept everyone away. Maka was free to breathe easy with her arm hooked around Soul's which made her feel even safer.

Backstage, Kid stood behind the curtain, wearing an overly loud outfit that was ANYTHING but symmetrical. He didn't even seem the least bit fazed or distraught, which was freaking Liz out.

"Kid, have you LOOKED AT THAT THING?" Liz said, causing Kid to give his outfit a quick once-over before adding a pair of black shades and a yellow/red zebra-stripe fedora. Liz's eyes exploded from her head.

"Why, yes," Kid said, still completely unfazed, "Yes I have."

"And you're not having a fit, or screaming about wanting to die, or demanding a more symmetrical outfit? WHAT'S THE DEAL?" Liz screamed. Kid shook his head and slid his shades down his nose.

"Do you know what this is, Liz?" Kid asked, waving a hand toward the stage and all on the other side of the curtains. Liz nodded.

"Yeah, it's the welcome back party! You signed up to sing a song… and… why are you acting so … "not Kid"-like?" Liz asked. Kid simply shook his head with a smile.

"After everything they've have been through in the past two weeks, they deserve a little relaxation.. They agreed to the party and showed up. If I started having a fit and screaming now, I'd be stealing their relaxation in an act of selfishness. I can't do that tonight. For at LEAST tonight, I'm waving away my obsession with symmetry and my perfection complex so they can relax and enjoy themselves. After all," Kid said, sliding his shades back into place, "It DOESN'T ALWAYS HAVE TO BE ABOUT ME. Now hurry up and get into costume!" Kid knelt down to lace up his tacky-looking green/orange lightning-bolt sneakers. Liz smiled.

'_At least for tonight, eh?'_ she thought, smiling as she walked off to get into her own costume, _'I suppose I can live with that.'_

Several minutes later, the room suddenly went dark and three drumbeats summoned spotlights to the stage, casting a three-way silhouette on a single figure that stood bent in a classic Michael Jackson dance pose. The music started playing, a heavy-metal-like guitar bit that worked into an a combination of metal, rock, and techno, with an occasional burst of a harmonica. Soon the figure moved, revealing to everyone that it was Kid, dressed in clashing clothes set in loud colors and a pair of shades… and he was SMILING.

"THIS IS A LITTLE PIECE I'D LIKE TO DEDICATE TO OUR THREE RETURNEES!" Kid shouted, tapping an earphone mike on his head. He waited patiently for his cue in the song and started:

"Death the Kid, you know how it is  
Hate to dismiss any mistake  
If it ain't right then u must be kidding  
Jokes mislead because you are now slipping

Oblique mind, then I give a fix  
Simply blast it, it ain't a trick  
Just one click then the second click  
Rest is oh my goodness you're history

It ain't a mystery to entry  
Just that I'm not so intrigued  
Don't get it wrong son I'm a sweet treat  
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Have a Nice Dream!"

Atthat point, Kid reached for the two holsters at his sides and pulled out what everyone knew was the Thompson Sisters in weapon form, and shot one round into the air every time he said "Bang!", alternating between one and the other. When he said "Have a Nice Dream!", he capped it off with a double shot. Everyone expected the rounds to be real bullets, but started cheering and clapping when the shots proved to be no more than bursts of his Soul Wavelength and streamers.

"If it ain't proper, it's incomplete  
Making me shiver because you lacking heat  
stop taking chances it's real steep  
watch when you sleep because my Glocks creep"

At that, The guns twisted out of his hands until the two sisters were out in human form, each dressed up in cowgirl outfits. Everyone expected them to stick to a special dance routine, but they were surprised when both sisters broke into their own random dance pieces, which only stopped when Kid motioned for them. They immediately took a bow and vanished back to their gun forms and rested in each of his hands. Holstering the sisters for a while, he started into another bout of his song.

"Not enough for me to satisfy  
Any mistakes let's clarify  
Let's post it on the classified  
Find the bad and boom bye-bye"

When Kid said "Boom", he quick-drew the sisters and fired one shot from each at the same time, sending more streamers everywhere.

"Do it together with my entourage  
Placing you head in the back of garage  
Have a little sale and sell you cheap  
So please get out I'm out of your league "you know"

You still don't understand the range  
That you stay in, I ain't playing  
No more trading losing it, it ain't easy to get back  
You know what I'm saying

Hit your case with a big back slap  
Click the gat and go Blam! Blam! Blam!"

With every "Blam!", Kid fired off another double-shot from the sisters, spinning both around on his fingers like a western gunslinger.

"Everything I touch will go platinum  
Somehow people around me clapping it yep"

Kid fired off one more round as he said "Yep", and the entire audience started clapping to the beat.

Not too far away, Maka and Soul sat at a table.

"Can you believe Kid's dressed like that?" Soul said, breaking down and laughing hysterically. Maka smiled.

"I guess he didn't want to steal the show by making a scene…" she reasoned. Soul stopped laughing after a minute and nodded, returning his focus to the stage, where Kid had started singing again.

"Death the Kid u know how it is  
Hate to dismiss any mistake  
If it ain't right then u must be kidding  
Jokes mislead because you are now slipping

Oblique mind, then I give a fix  
Simply blast it, it ain't a trick  
Just one click then the second click  
Rest is oh my goodness you're history

It ain't a mystery to entry  
Just that I'm not so intrigued  
Don't get it wrong son I'm a sweet treat  
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Have a Nice Dream!"

Once more, with each "Bang" came an alternating burst of shots from the sisters, followed with mass screaming and cheering from the people below.

"If it ain't proper, it's incomplete  
Making me shiver because you lacking heat  
Stop taking chances it's real steep  
Watch when you sleep because my Glocks creep!"

At this point, Kid held the sisters aloft, aiming high. The audience knew what was coming… or so they thought.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Have a Nice Dream!"

Kid fired alternating shots once again.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Have a Nice Dream!"

Kid fired two shots from Liz first, then two from Patti.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Have a Nice Dream!"

Kid fired four double blasts. The sisters turned human and pulled a pair of pistols from each of their own holsters, aiming them high like Kid had before as Kid reached behind him and pulled out a second pair.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Have a Nice Dream!"

Kid turned around and fired five double shots, as did both sisters, the last one matching the final drumbeat. As the music stopped, Kid bent at the waist in a back-to-the-audience bow, while Patti posed on one leg with a "peace sign" over her face and Liz knelt on the ground like a gunslinger. The five shots in the air exploded into a burst of multi-colored light and streamers, which made the audience go CRAZY. Spinning around, Kid smiled, pulled his shades off, and placed them along the brim of his hat. The sister stood, and all three bowed three times. Spinning on their heels, Kid led the girls offstage. The audience lost it.

At their table, Black Star was on the floor, holding his sides while laughing like an idiot.

"What's so funny, Black Star?" Tsubaki asked, sounding serious, "He did it for us. He didn't want to make a scene."

"THAT'S WHAT'S SO FUNNY!" Black Star said through spasms of laughter, "HE STOLE THE SHOW ANYWAY!" Tsubaki thought about it a moment, then nodded in realization: The entire act hinged on Kid's attire. Had he comes out in a suit, people wouldn't have cared so much; because he came out in clothes people KNEW he would NEVER wear, he made a statement and had fun. Tsubaki smiled and returned to sipping her drink.

A few tables away, Maka and Soul were sipping their own drinks.

"Damn you, Kid…" Soul muttered, "Did you HAVE to go so over the top?" Maka smiled.

"Well, at least he raised the bar for the next performer!" She said. Soul shook his head.

"That's why I'm worried, Maka! I **AM** the next performer!" Soul said, getting up to go to the stage. Maka stared after him.

Several moments later, Soul took to the stage and cleared his throat before approaching the mike.

Instead of addressing anyone, he motioned for the song to start. Once again, the lights went out. Moments after, one light blinked on underneath Soul at center stage, while three more ahead of him cast a silhouette against the back of the stage of Soul with his arms raised at his sides.

The music started, sounding like a mix of 60's hippy music and techno. The audience immediately got into the beat and started dancing. The backing track kicked in, releasing a long, drawling digitized voice drawling:

"Keep on going I keep on running  
I will not stop not now, I will not end not now  
Keep on going I keep on going  
Get out my way now yeah get out my way now  
I am gonna go my way or nothing  
Man's gotta beat the day and make himself the day yeah

I am gonna go my way or no way  
Taking me higher taking you higher  
Keep on running I keep on running  
I will not stop now I will not end now  
Keep on going I keep on going  
Get out my way now get out my way now"

"THIS SONG IS ONE I'D LIKE TO DEDICATE TO MY PARTNER, AND BEST FRIEND EVER. MAKA," Soul shouted, pointing straight to her, "THIS ONE'S FOR YOU!"

With that, he spun around and held the mike to his mouth. The voice that came out of Soul's mouth sounded like his own, but had a deeper tone to it.

"Drop top. Don't stop, Don't stop!  
Cruising the highway making it hot  
Me and my partner grilling the spot  
Touch any job man we got it locked

Around the world we globe trot  
Transformer but not a Glock  
I do not work by the clock  
Do what I do and blow up a lot

Like that!"

The audience ate it all up, losing control as they danced hard to the music and the sound of Soul's voice. The backing track kicked in again, playing long enough for Soul to take a big breath before continuing:

"So it's me, Soul the Eater;  
Cook up the bad and enjoy the dinner!  
My weapon is out from the speaker;  
Phrases that I improvise to gear up

Ready to die man, ready to tear up!  
Ready for the battle, for the full throttle!  
Gonna get stronger with my crew son,  
Breaking the wrong heart under my rule son!

Needless to say, Number One!  
With a bit 'o help from the Devilish One  
Teach you how to stunt, but don't call me Don!  
Still struggling, like I'm stuck in a trunk

If it ain't cool, it ain't alive!  
If it is fake, kiss it good bye!  
Got no vibe; Give it no try;  
Gotta make things happen on your own,

That's right!"

With this, the music broke into a fast-paced mash-up of both types of music with a little rock thrown in here and there. Around two-and-a-half minutes in, the beat slowed down and started over from the start with a smash of the cymbals.

Soul pointed to Maka and motioned for her to come and join him. She smiled and leapt up off of one foot, landing square on the stage next to him. Winking to each other, they assumed their stance and performed a Soul Resonance, assuming their Reaper Modes. The audience's reaction was split, with the girls going nuts over Soul while the guys went crazy over Maka. Neither seemed to care much as Soul took Maka's hands and led her in a spinning dance that took them around the stage, soon breaking into a fast-paced form of ballroom dancing, with their own moves mingled in randomly. Soon, it was time to start singing again, and Soul handed Maka a mike. She smiled and waited for Soul to take the lead.

Keeping up their dancing, Soul started off:

"So it's me, Soul the Eater;  
Cook up the bad and enjoy the dinner!  
My weapon is out from the speaker;  
Phrases that I improvise to gear up!"

Maka broke in here, taking up the next bit while keeping pace with Soul's dance moves:

"Ready to die man, ready to tear up!  
Ready for the battle, for the full throttle!  
Gonna get stronger with my crew son,  
Breaking the wrong heart under my rule son!"

Soul took over here, singing the next two lines while still dancing:

"Needless to say, Number One!  
With a bit 'o help from the Devilish One!"

Maka took up the next two lines, still keeping pace with Soul:

"Teach you how to stunt, but don't call me Don!  
Still struggling, like I'm stuck in a trunk."

Here, Soul and Maka tag-teamed, alternating the lines. Soul started:

"If it ain't cool, it ain't alive!"

Soul dragged a thumb across his throat. Maka jumped in:

"If it is fake, kiss it good bye!"

Maka placed two fingers to her lips and blew a kiss. Soul jumped in:

"Got no vibe!"

Maka joined:

"Give it no try!"

Finally, both sang the last piece together:

"Gotta make things happen on your own; that's right!"

At this point, Maka threw up her mike hand to point at the audience, but Soul surprised her and everyone else. Without alerting her to his actions, He reached for her free hand, resting by her side, and grabbed it, pulling her in close for a dip that ended with their first kiss JUST as the last drumbeat hit. Maka's eyes exploded out of her head, as did half of the eyes of half the audience. Kid and the Sisters, however, who had been watching from off stage, smiled. The sister held hands and squealed in joy, while Kid simply smiled and shook his head.

"Finally making a move, eh Soul?" he mumbled to himself.

At their table, Black Star and Tsubaki were staring at the stage wide-eyed; neither could believe how forward Soul was being, given he normally held back.

"WHOA…" Tsubaki said, settling back for a sip of her drink. Black Star just stared. Tsubaki looked at him once, then rolled her eyes and put her drink down, mumbling, "Oh brother."

Black Star had no time to prepare for when Tsubaki pulled him around to face her and pressed her lips to his. His eyes widened further, then slowly closed. Ten seconds later she pulled away.

"Let's work hard from now on, alright?" she said. Black Star nodded with a beaming smile.

Back on stage, Soul released Maka's lips and opened his eyes to see her staring at him like a deer caught in headlights. He smiled.

"Let's just say I've been waiting for the right time to make a move, alright?" he asked, using his "cool" voice. Maka smiled and stood up to lunge in for another kiss. Soul didn't back away or try to stop her, and enjoyed the thirty second kiss for all it was worth. When they let go, they smiled to the crowd of cheering, hollering students and waved before vanishing off stage.

Later that night, after the party dispersed and everyone had gone home, Maka and Soul were sitting on the couch in their apartment. Maka sat on Soul's lap with a smile, which Soul happily returned.

"Hey Soul," Maka said, "What are we going to do about Blair-chan?"

Soul chuckled and said, "I guess we'll have to ask her to leave. We can't let her stay here anymore… at least not if she's not going to start paying us RENT for the stuff she uses around here!" Maka turned to look him in the eyes.

"Really?" she asked, "you're really going to make her either leave or start PAYING us to stay?" Soul's face turned serious.

"Maka, I've almost lost you many times in the past. But two weeks ago was the first time I seriously felt like things weren't going to pick up for us. I thought for sure that was it; we were DONE for good. I'm NOT about to let ANYTHING come between us again; not Blair, not that little freshman stalker girl I have at Shibusen, and CERTAINLY not any of the boys who'll be hounding you from now on. I'm holding on, and never letting go again," Soul said with conviction. Maka smiled and kissed him.

"That's good… because I'm not letting you go either. We've got loads of time to make up for all the hiding we did before. From here on," she said, reaching her arms back to rest behind his head, "It's you and me against the world, with the rest of SPARTOI backing us up. We can't afford to lose our heads now… And I'm NEVER putting myself in a position where I'm going to risk losing you again." Soul smiled and closed his eyes.

"I love you Maka." Maka smiled and rested her head against his chest.

"I love you, Soul."

With that, the two fell asleep, and it was that sight that met Blair the Cat when she walked in the door the next morning.

Over the next few years, they would come to learn that through their Reaper Modes, the two could easily harness ad control Soul's Black blood, removing the negative side-effects of the madness it spread. In addition, they found they were able to not only free souls that had been sealed inside dead bodies, but also send them to the afterlife. The two managed to easily defeat the Kishin Asura when he awoke several months later, as well as the Witch Medusa and the immortal Werewolf Free, whose soul they'd torn from his body and sent along. Medusa's had been destroyed. Over time, they became so powerful that NO ONE, not even the other members of SPARTOI could reach them, allowing them to lead rich, full lives with the family they eventually settled to have, consisting of two boys and two girls.

_**~THE END!~**_

[A/N] HOLY CRAP… This tops my list for the longest piece I've EVER written. 37 pages, ON THE DOT, containing almost 24 THOUSANDS words… *sighs* I'm tired. But I'm glad to have this one done. ^_^ Hope you all enjoyed. ^_^ If you read, PLEASE LEAVE A CONSTRUCTIVE REVIEW, not something consisting of a single line of praise, or even worse, a single word. I want to know what everyone REALLY thinks, so I can improve a bit more. ^_^

*Shiken can be roughly translated as "Death Blade".  
**Maka's appearance here is mostly based on a promotional image of her in the Soul Eater manga, located on page 1 of chapter 77, "Salvage 6". If the website you read it on doesn't have this image, look for it on "Manga Reader". ^_^ Please take note that this is NOT what I think Maka should look like, but merely an imaginative description of what she'd look like at this level. Plus, if you think about it, … no, on second thought, I won't go there. There are no doubt Soul fans out there who would give anything to see Soul dressed this way, minus the bra, of course.[A/N]


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